Sunday, September 9, 2012

Thai Grilled Chicken

Thai Grilled Chicken_Singlish Swenglish

I never imagined a simple ingredient such as the coriander root can make such a difference to a marinade. Yes, that is the secret to this super-delicious grilled chicken shared by a very generous lady Nuk from her chef sister. She made this for one of our gatherings and I immediately begged her for the recipe, with measurements that is. And so, here it is to be shared with all you readers :). Just a note, I marinade this for two nights in a fridge, so the flavours really seeps into the chicken, but one night would be enough too.

Ingredients
1-1.5kg fresh chicken, cut into four parts
Coriander root (2-3)
4 garlic cloves
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 tablespoons coconut milk, for basting the chicken while grilling it

Steps
  1. Clean and cut the chicken into four parts, you may cut it even smaller if desired, but it might make the basting a bit more challenging ;)
  2. Pound the garlic, coriander and black pepper together in a mortar, then add the rest of the ingredients except coconut milk and mix well.

    Thai Grilled Chicken_Singlish Swenglish

    Thai Grilled Chicken_Singlish Swenglish
  3. Rub it well into the chicken pieces and leave to marinade overnight.

    Thai Grilled Chicken_Singlish Swenglish
  4. Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before grilling in the oven preheated to 180°C. Remove the garlic and coriander pieces and pat dry the chicken pieces before placing it skin side up on a aluminum lined tray.
    Thai Grilled Chicken_Singlish Swenglish

  5. Bake for about 45 minutes, using the coconut milk mixed with the remaining marinade, basting every 15 minutes.
  6. For the last 5-10 minutes, turn up the oven temperature to 225°C if you like the skin brown and crispy, but keep a close watch on it otherwise it will burn easily at this point.
  7. Traditionally, this is served with som tum and sticky rice. In our household, it just went very well with some hot rice and chili :)
    Thai Grilled Chicken_Singlish Swenglish