Thai Chicken
~ Mary ~
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Here we go again with yet another winner from Steven Raichlen’s Planet Barbeque! The more I cook from his books the more I am in awe with his ability to hit a home run time and time again. The man is amazing!
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I guess what I’m saying is: if you don’t have at least one of his cookbooks, and you like to grill then you MUST go out and get one immediately! I believe they even have some on ebay up for auction. Get on it my friends, before the grilling season is under a foot of snow.
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Yes, that's the wonderful Ginger Asian Slaw! Click the photo to be taken to the recipe.
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Thai Grilled Chicken
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Plan ahead, your chicken needs to marinate over night or for at least 4 hours.
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Prepare the marinade
With a mortar and pestle (or a food processor) pound or puree into a paste:
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4 Garlic Cloves
1 piece ginger, about 3″, cut into smaller pieces
3 Stalks Lemongrass, trimmed and coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp Cilantro coarsely chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Curry Powder
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While working the paste slowly pour in:
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1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Oil
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Quarter a Whole Chicken, about a 3-4 lb bird, make some deep slashes in each peice so it will absorb the marinade better. Here’s an example for you.
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Place the chicken pieces into a large ziploc baggie, pour in the marinade. Zip it up and massage the marinade into all the pieces.
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Let it marinate over-night, or a least 4 hours – the longer you let it marinate the richer your flavor will be.
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Grill over medium high heat until your thermometer reads 160°
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It’s debatable as to which side to start on, skin or bone. I prefer to start on the skin side, this way I can control the amount of crispness to the skin and I can turn the chicken over just when it starts to have fat dripping into the fire and cause flare ups. I let those flare ups happen on the bone side, because who cares if the underside, all bones anyway, gets charred? Not me!
Serve with small bowls of Sweet Thai Chile Sauce for dipping. I thought it was good with or without the dipping sauce.
Sounds GREAT! Looks even better!!
Your pictures just get better and better! They’re so real I can almost smell the chicken!!!
It’s making me hungry.
There’s still time to make it for dinner……
Do I have to have the Lemon Grass? That’s the only ingredient I don’t have on hand.
No, you don’t have lemongrass 😦 But if I didn’t have any, I would use some lime juice or lemon as a second choice, and probably use 1/4-1/3 of a cup. If you’re ever in an Asian grocery store that carries Thai ingredients – pick some up, cut it into thirds or quarters and freeze it for future use. It looks like THIS
your thai chicken looks great!and the pics are full of color,very beautiful!
Wow! That does sound delicious. Love the grill photo, and the colors of that slaw too.
LL
Wouldn’t Thai curry paste (red or green) be more authentic than curry powder?
Not necessarily, Thai’s do cook with curry powder too. Steven Rachlain got this recipe from a composite of chicken vendors in Thailand. There are actually two recipes in the cookbook. This particular one would be associated with southern Thailand, the other (with fish sauce and coriander root) from the Northeast region.
Thanks for the clarification. Steven Raichlain would know!!
Indubitably Judie! He’s the KING of BBQ in my book.
~Mary
His cookbooks are AMAZING! You’re absolutely right about him hitting homeruns. How in the world he gets the flavors to hit just the right notes every time. Wow! The chicken looks incredible.
What a great marinade!! Drooling!!
Penzey’s Spices sells dried lemon grass in stalks or a powder. It does the trick! Lemon Grass was very easy to grow in our Minnesota herb garden this summer…there’s really nothing like it, combined with Thai Basil…delicious!
Thanks for the tips Colleen!
Steve Reichlen is great, I agree. Have two (or three?) of his books. But I really want to know about that barbecue–never seen once like that before!
I was just reading about Steve Reichlen. I need to get one of his books, I really do. I feel like myself and my bf with the way we grill, it would be a perfect addition to our collection. AND the Thai Chicken looks really good. 🙂
I have two of his books and love them both. Grilling is the absolute best way to cook. I love living down south where I can do it all year. 🙂