Stewed chicken is a favourite in the Caribbean Islands. It is the one type of chicken you learned how to cook and was sure to eat every week. I remember as a child trying to make this and failing miserably. I made several attempts at it until I got it correct. I made errors such as: not burning sugar properly, this made it too sweet, burning sugar to dark, which gave it a bitter taste, not cooking chicken properly, and not boiling the water down properly to give it a thick gravy. I remembered my mother always shaking her head saying look at how many pounds of chicken I wasted trying to cook this stewed chicken. I have now mastered cooking this type of chicken and I must admit that it is one of my favourite dishes and a must have.
You can eat stewed chicken with almost any side. It can be eaten or served with plain rice, rice and peas, roasted breadfruit, fried and coconut bake, steamed ground provisions and macaroni pie. I must add; however, that the Jamaican stewed chicken preparation is somewhat different than how the other islands prepare theirs; nonetheless, it is eaten and served the same way.
If you are visiting the Caribbean and never had stewed chicken before, remember to visit one of the local restaurants. I can guarantee it is one of the meats being served daily.
Recipe:
You’ll Need…2 lbs of Chicken (wings, breast, legs, etc..) You can also use beef, pork, oxtails instead.
3/4 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon veg oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon grated ginger (see note)
1/4 hot pepper (habanero or scotch bonnet) optional
1 medium onion
1 tomato
3 sprigs thyme
2 scallions
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoon golden brown sugar
juice of 1 lime or lemon (can vinegar as well)
2 leaves shado beni (or 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups water
Notes: Feel free to add additional herbs in seasoning the chicken (Spanish thyme, parsley and/or oregano). You can also grate the ginger into the marinating of the chicken, but if you wish you can use a slice and remove it at the end of cooking if you’re worried about biting into the ginger. Remember when using hot peppers to keep away from the seeds and surrounding white membrane if you’re concerned about the heat. You also have the options of adding string beans, or any other beans to the recipe.
Wash chicken properly with vinegar, lime or flour. Then chop the onion, garlic, tomato, hot pepper, scallions, thyme and shado beni.
Add all the ingredients into the bowl with cubed chicken pieces except the brown sugar, water, and vegetable oil. Give it a good stir and allow the chicken to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Let the seasoned chicken marinate until you are ready to cook it.
Let’s get ready to put this tasty dish together. If this is your first time ‘stewing’ meats as it’s done in Caribbean (almost like caramelizing) you can refer to the video below or follow along.. Since we’ll be working with melted sugar at a high temperature be sure to use a dry cooking spoon with a long handle. It’s also recommended that you have the seasoned chicken close.
Heat a fairly large/deep pot on a med/high heat and add the oil. Now add the brown sugar and keep stirring. The sugar will start to melt and go a sort of caramel color.. that’s what we want. Allow it to start going frothy and it will get a rich dark color. Keep stirring as you want the entire batch of sugar to work evenly. As it get’s a rich dark color and frothy.. the pot will start to smoke so have a window open or the exhaust fan above your stove on.With care, start adding the chicken. It’s ok if the pieces of onion, tomato etc goes into the pot. Sooner or later they will reside there. Give it a good stir to coat the chicken in the lovely brown color.
* Be careful not to let the sugar go black or your dish will have a sort of bitter taste.
Turn down the heat to low, cover the pot and allow to cook for about 6 minutes with the lid on. After six minutes you should have some natural juices at the bottom of the pan. With the lid off, turn up the heat (remember to stir) and burn off that liquid. We’re building a rich flavor base and we enhancing the overall color of the dish.
Bring to a boil, then allow liquid to dry out. Stir if necessary to coat chicken evenly and properly. If chicken is not cooked, add a little more liquid to pot.
Serve with your favourite side: rice, provision, macaroni pie, roasted breadfruit
Some recipe information adapted from: www.caribbeanpot.com
Some recipe information adapted from: www.caribbeanpot.com
OR
Jamaican Brown Stewed Chicken:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW2XopNn78k
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