Jerk Chicken

Paul Chung is the author of this jerk-chicken recipe. He grew up in Jamaica and tried to jerk all over the island. It’s spicy, smoky, and fragrant all at the same time.

Active Time

30 minutes

Total Time:

9 hrs

Servings:

8 Servings

Food & Wine rated this recipe as one of the 40 best in 2018. Jamaicans have as many variations on jerk as there are chefs, but they all use the same technique: The chicken is coated with a mixture of spices and chiles before being grilled. Paul Chung is a self-taught chef of Chinese and Jamaican heritage who worked at Food & Wine’s mail room. It’s spicy, smoky and fragrant – everything you expect jerk to be.

What makes this recipe stand out from the rest? Five-spice is a Chinese spice mixture made up of cinnamon, fennel seeds, cloves and Sichuan peppercorns. Marcia Kiesel, former F&W Test Kitchen Supervisor, wrote: “This sparkle of cinnamon enhances clove flavour imparted from the allspiceberries.”

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe

Jamaican jerk is a simple dish to make despite its depth of flavour. After gathering all the ingredients, you can use the food processor to create a marinade. The chicken should marinate overnight so that the seasoning can penetrate the meat. All that is left to do now is to bring the chicken to room temperature and then grill it until it is well browned. If desired, the chicken can be roasted inside an oven.

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Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, coarsely sliced
• 3 medium scallions, sliced
• 2 Scotch Bonnet Chiles, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 5 Spice Powder, 1 Tablespoon
• Allspice berries coarsely ground, 1 tablespoon
• Black pepper, coarsely ground: 1 tablespoon
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme crumbled
• Nutmeg freshly grated to 1 teaspoon
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• Two chickens (weighing between 3 1/2 and 4 pounds) quartered

Directions

• Combine the onion, scallions, chiles, garlic, five-spice powder, allspice pepper, nutmeg and salt in a food processor. Process until a coarse paste is formed. Add the oil and soy sauce to the food processor while it is running. Pour the marinade into a large shallow dish. Add the chicken and coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bring the chicken up to room temperature.
• Light the grill. Grill the chicken on a medium fire, rotating it occasionally for 35-40 minutes or until well-browned and cooked. Cover the grill to get a smokey flavour. Serve the chicken on a plate.