Chicken Inasal
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 1-3 hour marinating time
Cooking time: 55 minutes
Serves: 4
- 4x400g/14oz chicken marylands
- 100g/3.5ozs onion or golden shallots, finely chopped
- 80g/2.8ozs lemongrass stalks (white part only)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs Lift or lemon soda (or sub with water, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
- 100ml/3.5flozs coconut vinegar
- 60ml/2flozs lime juice
- 80g/2.8ozs white sugar
- 1 tablespoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
For Annatto oil
- 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs oil
- 2 tablespoons annatto seeds
Dipping sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons coconut vinegar
- 1.5 tablespoons lime juice
Step 1 - Place the onions, lemon grass stalks, ginger and garlic into a food processor and blend until fine. Heat the Lift or soda in a small saucepan and dissolve the sugar and salt into it. Cool and stir in the vinegar, lime juice and black pepper. Mix with the lemongrass and onion mixture. You can make the marinade 1-2 days ahead of time and keep in the fridge. Marinade the chicken marylands in this mixture for 1-3 hours. Make sure to take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before you grill it (if you cook it straight from the fridge, add another 10-15 minutes to the grilling time).
Step 2 -Make the annatto oil by gently heating up the oil and annatto seeds and cook gently on low heat for 5-8 minutes. The oil should be a dark red shade. Strain the seeds and keep aside. I also make some annatto rice with the oil leftover in the pot to serve with it.
Step 3 -Heat a grill on medium heat (not high) and line with two layers of foil. Brush off the extra lemongrass and marinade and add some oil to the foil so that the chicken doesn't stick to it. Grill the chicken skin side down first, basting in the annatto oil. Grilling the chicken will take about 45 minutes total. Halfway through, when the bottom of the chicken looks to be cooked, turn the chicken over and baste with annatto oil and grill on top. Baste 1-2 more times until the chicken is caramelised and cooked through.
Dipping sauce: mix the soy sauce, coconut vinegar and lime juice together. Serve alongside the chicken and rice.
Personal Note
I loved this dish but if I can offer you any advice it's to make sure that you have enough limes because limes can sometimes give you nothing or they can be quite juicy. I used up all of my limes for the marinade and then wanted to make the dipping sauce too but they were all gone, some limes only giving up a scant half teaspoon of juice.
I asked Mr NQN to ask our neighbours if anyone had a spare lime. He said that our neighbours Nick and Vicki did and would bring it over. An hour later Nick knocked on the door holding a precious lime. I found out that they actually went to the store to buy the lime for me which was totally unexpected and so amazing of them! They have two kids and they both work super busy jobs and I did not expect that at all so I was very grateful for my lime. And the lime that they got was a perfect specimen with plenty of juice in it. I had just enough time to photograph this before the light disappeared. I wish I could have passed over some chicken over the fence to say thank you.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you ask your neighbours if they have something if you run out? Have you ever tried Chicken Inasal?