Authentic Jerk Chicken at Home

Unfortunately, grilled chicken could never beat fried chicken, except in this case. Jamaican jerked chicken. Look, I've had it in many different places, but there was one place in particular that I've been to. Irie Jerk Chicken in New York City was so good. Literally served off the side of the street on a plastic plate. One of the best bites of chicken I've had in my life. It was so good, I'm bringing her out, and we're making it, and she's going to show us how she does it. This could be the greatest grilled chicken recipe of all time. So let's make this, shall we? So we're going to start by prepping our chicken, adding the dry spices, making the wet marinade, and throwing it on the grill. And then while that's cooking, we'll whip up their classic honey jerk chicken sauce, fry some festival bread, and round it all out with a pickled eskimo. Today we're making a ton of chicken, but don't worry, we have a scaled down version of the recipe which is available in the link in the description. But to translate, we'll have notes on screen for a four serving version so you can tackle this at home. Okay, so where do we begin? Walk me through this. We've got a lot of chicken. Yeah, we have a lot of leg quarters. So first thing we have to do, we have to gut them. You have to get out all of these liver and kidney outside of it, and you just easily do it like that. You know, sometimes you could just even use your finger. Wow, you got that out so cleanly. You see, that's why my food takes so long, because I've got to do all of this stuff. But good food takes time, that's how it goes. Yeah, yeah. You're taking care of the people. I have to. This is a brand new technique to me, I had no idea. I'm going to tell you something. As a Jamaican, don't say that, let them hear you. If we go to a restaurant and this is in our food, we're not going back. And we're telling everybody we know about that. What about this excess fat, you want to cut through this? No, no, that helps get the flavor when it's burning. And we don't take the skin off, because we eat the stuff behind the skin. It's basting itself in its own fat. Yeah, in our own fat. See there? It wasn't that long. So now we're going to the sink, we're going to rinse it with vinegar and lime juice. And lime, real lime. So we're going to squeeze the lime every night, Joshua. Drop the lime every night. You want to wash it, you know, it's like you're caressing your girl. Okay, so all the remnants that we weren't able to get with our knife, we're essentially washing out at this point. Into this water. I mean, admittedly, the chicken does look very clean, I will say that. Okay, so now we're making the wet marinade. We got scotch bonnet, Jamaican hot peppers. Brought them from New York, man. Real ginger. A sh**load of thyme, love that. Scallion and my allspice pimento seeds. Wow, there's a lot that goes into this. Just throw all of your seeds in there every night. The whole thing? Yeah, man, throw it in there. Oh my God. Okay, so these are the pimentos. Those are not hot, they're just tasty. Six or so, and then we have another six. Six Jamaican hot peppers. And then we've got a lot of scotch bonnet. Wow. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Crack it if you do so you can handle it. It'll probably do it, yeah? Throw your scallion in there. The whole thing? Yeah, man, throw them in there. We're going to give it a quick whirl and then we'll add the rest of the ingredients. So pop this in. So this is ginger sorrel drink. So that'll help that run. Okay, yeah, there we go. Wow. It's almost like a dance. So we have whole allspice, two jars. This is the most allspice I think I've ever used in my life. We've got more of our spring onion, our green onion rather. They're all going in. Onion, fresh, beautiful. Okay, now we're rolling. We're really rolling here. I would have never figured this out. There's so much layering of flavor. Okay, so we're taking a pint out. So half this for the sauce. That's it? Yes, sir. We're ready to jerk. So we've got the dry seasoning going in. Then we'll add the wet. It's time to season the chicken. There you go. So Josh, we're going to put the garlic on it. Some little secret ingredient. Secret ingredient? Yeah, you just put a little dab on it. Super fragrant. I have no idea what it is, but I'll tell you that it smells incredible and it should be a candle. This is the ginger, the ground ginger. We also have the real ginger grounded up in that already. This is the dry chicken seasoning. You see the Sazan Classico dry jerk seasoning. And this, essential, this is whole pimento allspice grounded up. Wow. Tons of allspice. Yeah, you know, you need that in your chicken. In a lot of other cooking cultures, you see allspice being used very lightly. No. They'll be like one or two teaspoons. I mean, this is like, you're going all in on the allspice. It's a Jamaican thing, it's an African thing. The African spices. I love it. And then you're going to rehydrate it with this. And then I'm going to work my muscles and put them in. All right, let's do it. Should we pour this over? Just throw it out. All right. All of it? Yeah, man, throw it out. We don't have any left now. Go in there, Joshua. We'll feel it up. We'll love it up. And I wish somebody would treat me like this. Gotta love them to do it like this. See all them parts? It's so fragrant. Open it up and push the seasoning underneath there. This is super smart because you're essentially layering so many flavors. And you're getting two different versions of the flavor, like you said, right? The dried spices are going to taste different than the fresh. Yes. But you're bringing them together to kind of combine teams. I should be clear on this. There is salt in this. But it's not coming in the form of pure salt. It's in the seasoning that you just added. Especially the Sazon Classico is really salty. So if you were to make this at home, just be cognizant that the saltiness of the spices that you add should suffice. And also, all these spices are going to kind of caramelize and crisp up on the chicken too. All over. When the chicken look like it's burnt, it's not burnt. That's all the seasoning right there. Jerk and ready to go in your mouth. You created a space for the paste to go. Yes. So when you bite that bone, you're all seasoned. That's all you're tasting with the bone. I remember when I was eating the jerk chicken at your restaurant. And what I thought was interesting, I think, was this paste. This is the secret of making it so delicious. And guess what? We transfer the paste from one batch to the next batch. You're always reusing. Yes. So we got the same flavor. Keep going. It's like a sourdough starter. Yeah. It never changes. We're ready. That's just ready for the grill, brother. So ideally, you marinate for 24 hours. That's the least time. Usually, in Brooklyn, in a Times Square location, 48 hours. But if you only have 24, we'll turn a blind eye. Yeah. But it still be good. Okay. So we're going to bring this into the fridge. Then we grill. We found it on the street. It's cooked on the street. So we're cooking it on the street. Well, actually, technically in our parking lot, which is the street. So we've got the royal gourmet, specifically requested. You have to have this. Smoky. A couple notes. Hardwood, lump charcoal. Don't use pre-gassed or pre-lit charcoal. You want specifically hardwood. Royal oak. And Josh, being that we don't have any pimento wood and no nutmeg wood, we're not in Jamaica, we're going to throw some pimento seeds in there. Now, what is a pimento seed? Well, it's actually another name for allspice. So don't worry. You can find that at the grocery store or online. And we're going to put some whole nutmeg in there. Get that flavor going for your chicken while it cooks. So back home, you would be cooking this over pimento wood. Pimento wood. Or nutmeg wood. Yeah, that's natural. Just go in the bush, take it out. So you want to add your chicken on there. Okay. Fire's ready. No oil, chicken goes straight on. Chicken has enough fat on it. No oil, no oil. Beautiful. Wow. Load the whole thing. And then we have our fire basically center set. So you have a coal base, and it's really only in the center 60%, and then the outer edges are empty. Yeah, you can really move them to the heat. You know what I mean? So right now, we're going to let it cook. You can smell the chicken cooking already. So you're going to close the grill. You see the fire? You know the fire. This is all you're doing now. You're going to work with the wind. You're going to open this side right here. Let this breeze go in there. There you go. So you're part grilling, part smoking almost. That's how you cook it. Sometimes you smoke by itself. It's a science, baby. You're going to give it like 15 minutes for one side and 15 minutes for the other side, and you take it out. Close this part. I'm holding all the smoking as I can. 300 degrees. Temperature sweet spot. We're medium cooking. Okay, so now we have a carving fork, or really any fork I imagine, and you're puncturing all over the chicken. So this is really to speed up the cooking process a little bit. Let the heat get in there. Let the smoke get in there. It's also creating surface area too, though, because you've got like all the gnarlings and like the meat that folds out and the fat that folds out. A lot of professional culinary settings, everything they want to make perfect, they want to make perfect, but sometimes I think when you make it a little bit imperfect, you poke it, it changes it, and it arguably makes it better. There's no rules in a way. There's no rules. You just got to cook it the best way you think. You got to poke it, make sure the heat going right through it. Once both sides are nicely charred, move the chicken to the top rack and let it rest for another 15 minutes. Just make sure that your chicken is cooked all the way through to an internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit minimum when inserted into the deepest part of the meat. While your chicken's going, we're going to make our escabeche. So you're going to take the onion. You're going to make it in circular motion, as thin as you can. I've never cut an onion like this in my whole life. My God. Just like that. I see why you need a smaller knife. And you're done with that. You see you pepper them now. Cut your peppers the same way. These peppers can cut in two. I'm still on the onion, guys. This is the hardest part, getting the carrot done. This is the hardest part. You want to get nice pieces of carrot for your sauce. It tastes very good. All right, so we're going into a pot with the onion, the pepper, the carrot, everything. So we have a lot of allspice going in. Because you have so much pepper in there already, the carrot is going to add a nice little sweet flavor to it. And then you want to add your vinegar. Just enough vinegar to cover it up. There you go. Beautiful, simple, no salt, just this. Okay, now we bring this up to a boil over medium-high heat. And then we turn it off, and we add it to our food when we're ready. Sweet honey jerk sauce. Ivory Jerk's new signature sauce. So this is how we make it. This is the pre-blended one that we had before. So we're going to get a little finer. Yeah, it's just going to make it a little more refined so you can just fall on your meat without having to bite all these things up. So we want to add a little sweet honey. Just enough to give you the sweetness. And of course, you've got to have the juices sour. Add some acidity and also some sweetness too. Yeah, some sweetness. And it's got the ginger and everything in it too. So we're going to start high speed, yeah? Yeah, high speed. We want to liquefy it. There you go. Wow, simple. That was easy. There you go. Beautiful, look at that. Once your honey jerk sauce is completed, don't forget to season it to taste with salt. Ivy Jerk Sweet Honey Jerk Sauce, baby. Gotta love it, Joshua. Talk to me, Joshua. Oh yeah. Wow, it's crazy. It really amplifies the flavor of the pepper. Talk to me, Joshua. It's so fragrant. All right. I'm blown away. All right, Ivy Jerk Sweet Honey Jerk. I'm going to have to take my shirt off right now. All the natural flavors comes together. The tropical qualities of the pepper, you're getting that allspice in there. It all comes together into a nice, magical, sweet, but also relaxed, beautiful sauce. Okay. I know you might not be able to find sorrel juice at home, so here's a Niki-approved recipe for you. In a small sauce pot, you're going to add four cups of water. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Then grate two three-inch knobs of ginger into that boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes. Then add one cup of dried hibiscus, also called sorrel. Boil for another three to five minutes. Cut off the heat and let it steep covered for about five to 10 minutes. Then use a cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer and pour your mixture through to strain out all the solids. Gradually, you're going to add half a cup of sugar and stir until dissolved. Now, at this point, it's done. This would be the plain version. Niki also likes to add one tablespoon of red label wine and two teaspoons of white rum, but that's a personal preference and optional. Now, back to Chef Niki. So, now we're making our festival bread. We have a big-up spurry tree. Spurry tree is a brand from Jamaica. I have a beach in Jamaica called Elshire Beach. I'm taking you there soon. So, we're going to do the whole bag. We always want to leave a little bit in the bag just in case you need to butter it up a little. So, we're going to add the water to it, just water, because it's already pre-mixed. Back in Jamaica, we mix it with cornmeal, vanilla, a little sugar, a little cinnamon, a little nutmeg. But now, we're just going to do it like this in America. Simple, just water. Yeah, simple, just water. Could you add more to it if you wanted to? Yeah, if you wanted to. Is it wrong to add, like, milk? Yeah, I mean, some people do, but we don't do that. Not with festival. Never put milk in festival. So, you want to get the dough nice and soft. So, what we do now, that's why I left some in the bag. In case you need more. Just in case you need a little more to make it. In this case, if you don't have any more festival mix, you can add flour to it. We add a little bit more. We're looking for more of a dough that doesn't quite stick. And even though it's firm, it's still soft. Just rub it together. Make sure it's floured, well floured. And then you just press it. Straight in. Right in the pot. You're going to like it, man. It's nice. It's finger food. And as you see it brown, it's ready to come out. You can make it as brown as you want it, because it gives it a different taste. Well, now, we're going to let it fry. Once it's nice and golden, take it out, drain it, and give it your fry bread. Specifically, festival bread. Festival. This is, like, super crispy on the outside. Crunchy, aerated. And the inside's very dense, but fluffy. It's almost like the combination between hush puppy, cornbread, a biscuit fried. All that in one. Optionally, chop your jerk chicken quarters into three pieces. Pile your festival bread onto the plate. Add your charred, chopped jerk chicken, followed by a nice mound of your escovitch. And finally, spoon some sweet honey jerk sauce over your chicken. Everything is here, beautifully done by you. Man, thanks, Josh. No, of course, thank you. Thank you, man. There's only one thing left to do, which is to taste it. You just got to eat, man. Shall we? You just got to eat, man. I'm going to go for the back piece here. I'm going to go for this part right here. Mmm. Immediately transported back to Irie Jerk. My first time I went there, in New York City, street food tour, and it blew my mind. I couldn't figure out, why is it so damn good? But now, now I see. I thought it was going to be a complicated process. I thought there was going to be a lot of layering to it. And there is a lot of layering, but it really is kind of a simple thing. It's just beauty and simplicity and really excellent technique executed by you, but also generations and generations and generations. I said it earlier, but everything comes into one flavor. All these different things, the thyme, the allspice, the chilies coming in, providing that fragrance, that tropical flavor. It's a little spicy, but it's not too spicy. Don't be scared, don't be shy. Honestly, I could eat 100 pounds of this chicken by itself, but this sauce adds a little bit of extra depth. And you've got the crunch. You've got some extra sweetness. First of all, mix it in. The carbs for the day. And then a little bit of tartness to balance it off, to cut the richness of that fatty chicken. Beautifully pickled Escoviche, which is pickly, it's vinegary, it's acidic. It's a little crunchy. You showed us something legendary, something I think everybody needs to know about, something that I think there's no shortcuts that should ever be made, but also no shortcuts needed, because it's a simple process. It's a simple process. Beautifully done. Brother. Thank you. Thank you for doing this to us. Everybody in the comments, please, if you make it to New York City, you know where to go. I read Jerk Chicken is the one and only place to go. Go there first. And look, we said we were gonna bring her out. We had to do it. Thank you, bro. Subscribe.