Thai Grilled Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce
(from Amanda_Rose’s recipe box)
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 90 minutes
Serves 3 people
Ingredients
- 1.5 medium cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoons whole black peppercorns, coarsely ground
- 1 tablespoons minced cilantro stems
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoons fish sauce (see Tips)
- 1/4 cup “lite” coconut milk
- 2 pounds bone-in chicken drumsticks and thighs (about 12 pieces), skin removed, trimmed
- DIPPING SAUCE
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar or cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
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To prepare chicken: Combine garlic cloves, pepper, cilantro stems and pinch of salt in a large mortar or food processor or food mill and mash or pulse to a coarse paste. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in fish sauce and coconut milk. Add chicken and stir to coat with the marinade. Refrigerate, loosely covered, for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
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Preheat grill to medium. (No grill? See broiler variation, below.)
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To prepare sauce: Heat vinegar to a boil in a small nonreactive pan. Add sugar, stir to dissolve it, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Add crushed red pepper and minced garlic; simmer for 1 minute more. Remove from the heat and stir in salt. Pour into a serving bowl and let cool to room temperature before serving.
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Remove the chicken from the marinade. (Discard marinade.) Oil the grill rack (see Tips). Grill, turning occasionally, until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part without touching bone registers 165°F, 15 to 20 minutes.
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Serve the chicken with the dipping sauce.
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TIPS & NOTES
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Make Ahead Tip: Prepare sauce (Step 3) and hold at room temperature for up to 4 hours.
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Tip: Fish sauce is a pungent Southeast Asian condiment made from salted, fermented fish. Find it in the Asian-food section of well-stocked supermarkets and at Asian specialty markets. We use Thai Kitchen fish sauce, lower in sodium than other brands (1,190 mg per tablespoon), in our recipe testing and nutritional analyses.
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Tip: Oil a grill rack before you grill to keep the food from sticking to the rack. Oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill—it may cause a flare-up.)
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Broiler Variation: Preheat broiler to high. Place chicken in a roasting pan and broil about 5 inches from the heat, leaving the oven door ajar. Check after 8 minutes or so; the chicken pieces should be browning. Turn them over and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part without touching bone registers 165°F, about 8 minutes more.