I first must apologize for the lack of photos for this entry. If I remember correctly (which is a horrible thing to say and I should be able to keep up with this thing!), I started preparing this chicken and halfway through realized I needed more limes. For some odd reason, my local market has been having horrible luck with limes. They end up being dry and hard as rocks. I go to use them and I can barely get two drops of juice. This happened while trying to get the spice mixture, which is placed underneath the skin, for the chicken and I ran out of limes to juice. What was funny, in a sad way, was that Safeway ended up having much better juice-laden limes than my local Italian market. Anyway, while preparing this chicken, which ended up taking forever due to the marinating time and running out of limes, I said to Marshall, "This better be the best @#!$ing chicken ever, because this is ridiculous!" Well, my friends, it was.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this chicken as much as I did. For one thing, the spice mixture contains a good deal of coriander, which my body does not like. My stomach actually turns at the smell of coriander. I can take it in small doses, but anything with a strong coriander flavor or contains whole coriander seeds, I cannot eat without feeling sick. I never cooked much with coriander before, but I remember my mom went through this kick. She and my dad found this restaurant down the street from them, which is no longer there, called Asian Fusion. Essentially, it was a restaurant that infused all sorts of Asian cuisines onto one menu. They had a little Chinese, a little Vietnamese, a little bit of Indian, all rolled into one. They had a side dish simply called "Coriander Rice". It was regular white steamed rice, but they threw in a bunch of whole coriander seeds into the rice cooker. This infused the rice, so you could have a "scented" rice with your main dish. My mom was all over this. She even learned to make it at home. She served it with everything for a while, it seemed, and I just couldn't stomach it at all. It wasn't the flavor, but more the aroma which just didn't agree with me. Luckily, this chicken wasn't very CORIANDER-y, but it had an underlying flavor of that spice. Most of the coriander was in the spice rub, which was cooked with the chicken in such a way that it could be scraped off. Now, I don't like admitting when I'm a picky eater, but I just had to do this a few times with my chicken. This being said, though, it really was some awesome grilled chicken. Having the breast with the skin and bone-in locked in all the juices and the meat remained tender and extremely juicy. The rub penetrated the meat, so the flavor went past the surface and into the entire piece of chicken.
Charcoal/Gas-Grilled Thai-Style Chicken with Spicy Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
Serves 4
Chicken and Brine
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
4 Bone-in, skin-on Chicken Breasts, split, about 12 ounces each
Dipping Sauce
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Distilled White Vinegar
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
3 Garlic Cloves, pressed or minced
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Rub
2/3 Cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
12 Garlic Cloves, pressed or minced (about 1/4 Cup)
2 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger, minced
2 Tablespoons Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Ground Coriander
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1. To brine chicken: Dissolve sugar and salt in 2 quarts of water in a large container or bowl. Submerge chicken in bride and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but no longer than an hour. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
2. For dipping sauce: Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until sugar has dissolved. Let stand for an hour at room temperature to allow flavors to meld.
3. To make and apply rub: Combine all rub ingredients in small bowl. Slide fingers between chicken skin and meat to loosen skin, taking care not to fully detach the skin. Rub about 2 tablespoons of the rub mixture under the skin of each breast. Thoroughly rub even layer of the rub mixture onto all exterior surfaces, including bottom and sides. Place chicken in a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate while preparing grill.
4a. To grill chicken (charcoal): Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal (6 quarts, about 100 briquettes) and burn until coals are fully ignited and partially covered with ash, about 15-20 minutes. Build modified 2-level fire, by arranging coals in an even layer over half of grill, leaving the other half empty. Position cooking grate over the lit coals, cover grill, and heat grate until hot, about 5 minutes. Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Lightly dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate. Place chicken, skin-side down, on hotter side of grill; cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Flip chicken and cook until browned on second side, about 3 minutes longer. move chicken, skin-side up, to cooler side of grill and cover with a disposable pan; continue to cook until thickest part of the breast (not touching bone) registers 160F on instant-read thermometer, about 10-15 minutes.
4b. To grill chicken (gas): Turn all burners to high and heat grill with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Lightly dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate. Leave primary burner on high and turn other burner(s) to low. Place chicken, skin-side down, on hotter side of grill; cook until browned, about 4-5 minutes. Flip chicken over and cook until browned on second side, 4-5 minutes longer. Move chicken, skin-side up, to cooler side of grill and close lid; cook until thickest part of the breast (not touching bone) registers 160F on an instant-read thermometer, about 12-15 minutes.
5. Transfer chicken to serving platter; let rest for 10 minutes. Serve, passing dipping sauce separately.
Cook's Illustrated: Summer Grilling 2010, p. 37.
Sesame Noodles with Sweet Peppers and Cucumbers
Serves 4-6
1/4 Cup Sesame Seeds
1/4 Cup Chunky Peanut Butter
2 Cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger, minced
5 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Hot Sauce (I prefer Crystal brand)
2 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar (Dark is fine)
Hot Water
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Pound Asian Noodles or 12 Ounces Thin Spaghetti
2 Tablespoons Toasted Sesame Oil
1 Red Bell Pepper, medium size, cored, seeded and cut into 1/4" slices
1 Cucumber, medium, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut into 1/8" slices
4 Scallions, slided thin on the bias
1 Carrot, medium, grated
1 Tablespoon Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1. Toast sesame seeds in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon in a small bowl, set aside. In blender or food processor, pureé remaining 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds. With machine running, add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until sauce has a consistency of heavy cream, about 5 tablespoons; set aside.
2. Bring 6 quarts of water to boil in stockpot over high heat. add salt and noodles to boiling water; boil noodles until tender, about 4 minutes for fresh and 10 minutes for dry (always check the packaging instructions for specific cooking times). Drain, then rinse under cold running water until cool to touch; drain again. in large bowl, toss noodles with sesame oil until evening coated. Add bell pepper, cucumber, scallions, carrot, and sauce; toss to combine.
3. Sprinkle with reserved sesame seeds and chopped fresh cilantro, and serve.
Cook's Illustrated: Summer Grilling 2010, p. 37
I'm making this tonight!
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