Authentic Jerk Chicken
INGREDIENTS: SPICY JERK SAUCE
- 1 big bunch of green onions or a couple smaller bunches
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp salt
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme, or 1 Tbls fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp allspice
- 1-10 scotch bonnets. Start with a small amount and add more lately if you think it needs it.
- 1 thumb sized knuckle of ginger (don’t worry about peeling it; just blend it up skin and all!)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 a small onion
- 2-3 tbsp of brown sugar
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix it all together into a blender and turn it into a puree. Don’t add more water, if you’re having trouble getting it all blended, just keep turning off the blender, stirring it up, and trying again. Eventually it will “take” and start to blend up nicely.
Now taste it. It should taste pretty salty, but not unpleasantly puckeringly salty. If you think it’s perfect, and would enjoy it as a table sauce, add a bit more salt. You want this to sort of brine the meat as it marinates. It won’t taste too salty when you eat it with the meat, it will taste great!
You can also now throw in more chiles if it’s not spicy enough for you. If it tastes too salty and sour, try adding in a bit more brown sugar until things seem good and balanced.
Authentic jerked meats are not exactly grilled as we think of grilling, they are sort of smoke grilled. To get a more authentic jerk experience, add some wood chips to your BBQ, and cook your meat over slow indirect heat or just get em going over high heat and enjoy a beautiful jerk chicken breast, should be ready in 10 minutes or less.
If you have any modifications to make this recipe more delicious then feel free to leave a comment.
This is a gem of a recipe – and accurate too!
I had tried making Jerk Chicken using arecipe from All Recipes.com – it called for 4 tsp of thyme, and my wife refused to eat it.
So I tried one last time using your recipe.
The marinade itself taste great!
It turned out well. I even prefer it to Tandoori chicken and coming from a person of Indian origin, is a compliment!
1) Can one use ordinary onions instead? Green onions are not so readily available.
2) I used 1 habanero, seeds removed – I think these are Scotch bonnets?
3) 1 Tbsp cider vinegar instead of lime juice.
thanks,
Anil
Habineros are not Scotch bonnetts, though i dont know if one could substitute since both range in heat from 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville Heat Units.
the best
Wait, this stuff is traditional?
It tastes like 2008-2009 sorta, new wave recipes…
yeah mon me wife got da recipe from ya and it takes me back too the island coulta very good mon…bless
Thyme…
An interesting post by a bloger made me ……
Yo mon, you niggas gotsta geev it up to jah . we bwoy just jammin on da lambsbread, but see no praise! Bloodclots doin your fuckery. Praise jah. I-ree!
well my sister in law cooks jerk chicken 4 me all the while and its damn good i’m gonna try this and see how it goes maybe it’ll be nicer than hers lol x
This recipe has a HUGE mistake. No way are you gonna “smoke grill” a chicken breast in 10 minutes. Maybe 30 minutes…and that’s fast.
Dennis, read it again. The 10 min figure was for the chicken over direct heat. There is no substitute for a good thermometer, though.
What a great idea for an article! Thank you for the awesome suggestion.
I’m going to be trying this recipe tonight we will see how it comes out. I am going to omit the scotch bonnet peppers though not a big fan of the heat i will use jalapeños instead, keeping it bearable. And you can smoke grill a chicken breast in 10 min if you fillet it open.
How come soy sauce? InI always use a sprinkle of browning sauce and leave the spice mix without soy sauce or lime juice
And Scotch Bonnet Pepper are important if its not hot it sucks. One original Scotch Bonnet pepper is enough for 2 chicken trust me
you either better leave it marinated in the fridge overnight and cook it properly for 45 minutes instead of 10
or do it the original way smoked on small opened fire for a couple of hours
Rx7driver4life–Please give the Scotch Bonnet a try. It’s not gonna be Jerk without it. The pepper has a distinct flavor that makes Jerk Jerk; the heat is almost secondary (though unavoidable). Do like the recipe says and start with one and add more for more heat, as desired.
I just got back from a trip to Jamaica, where I took a class on Jerking from the head cook of the Jerk Centre at the Ritz Carlton. Upscale Jerk? No, mon. De real ting. And she was adamant–no Scotch Bonnets, no jerk.
And Accompong–my recipe calls for soy sauce for flavor and browning for color.