With the changing weather of the past weeks, it is time to bring the summer into your home. And with an authentic Surinamese dish, we naturally get into those summery atmospheres. Personally, I really enjoy immersing myself in other culinary cultures. Surinamese came across my path with these beautiful chicken legs.
Many different recipes can be found for Surinamese chicken, and I have made a best off that is ideal for use on the barbecue. Hot smoking the marinated chicken on the barbecue naturally gives the dish that Smokey touch. When I stew the chicken legs in a cast iron pan ensures that the marinade’s flavours do their work better. And you can eventually serve a delicious sauce with it.
With a sharp knife, you poke holes in the skin of the chicken leg. This ensures that the marinade can do its job more and that fats render efficiently so that the skin can become more crispy. Then thoroughly mix the chicken legs with the marinade and put everything covered in the refrigerator. You could do this the day before or in the morning so that the marinade can absorb well.
After marinating, you will smoke the chicken legs. Do not throw away the marinade because you will need it later. Place a drip tray under the grid to collect the fat and marinade. That saves a lot of smoke if it does not fall on the plate setter. For smoking, you use smoking wood that creates lighter smoke. Think of wood from fruit-bearing trees.
After half an hour to 45 minutes, remove the chicken from the grate. Place your cast iron pan on the grates and let it come to temperature in a closed barbecue, at 180°C (356F). By dropping a few drops of water into the heating pan, you will quickly find out if it is hot enough. If the drops hiss away and evaporate quickly, then you can get started.
You stirfry the vegetable mixture briefly in a dash of olive oil and then place the chicken legs on top and pour the reserved marinade over it. Then you pour in water until the chicken legs are about half underwater. Crumble in a Magi cube. Magi cubes are a kind of stock cubes that are often used in Surinamese cuisine to flavour dishes.
Close the lid and let the chicken legs cook for half an hour to become very tender. Then you remove the cover from the pan so that the sauce can thicken.
Remove the pan from the grates. Use good gloves for this, and make sure you place the hot pan on a heat-resistant surface such as a wooden cutting or serving board.
Time to prepare the plates with the rice and beans. Place the chicken legs on top with tongs and add some of the sauce. Decorate with finely chopped parsley. Serve the Surinamese chicken in style with a Parbo beer, but a Fernandes soft drink is also allowed. Njang switi.
Ingredients
- 3 chicken legs
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Tomato paste
- Soy sauce
- 1 tsp of 5 spice powder
- 1 tsp dried coriander
- Pepper
- salt
- Oil
- 1 tbsp of sugar
- 1 green pepper
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 Maggi cube
- Water
Instructions
- Prick holes in the skin at the thickly fleshed area with a pointed knife.
- Chop the garlic and half of the onion and mix with the tomato puree, soy sauce, 5 spice powder and dried coriander in a bowl or roasting pan.
- Thoroughly mix the chicken legs with the marinade and put this dish with the chicken covered in the refrigerator.
- Prepare your barbecue for indirect cooking at 180°C (356F) with a block of smoking wood. Place a drip tray under the grates.
- Place the chicken legs on the grill rack above the drip tray. Save the marinade.
- Let the chicken smoke and pre-cook for about 30-45 minutes. In the meantime, cut the green pepper and tomatoes into cubes.
- Remove the chicken from the grates and let a cast iron pan come up to temperature. Add a dash of oil to the pan and add a tablespoon of sugar. Let the sugar dissolve in the oil while stirring. Then fry the second half of the onion in the sweet oil. Then the chopped bell pepper and tomatoes can be added to stirfry them for 2 minutes.
- Place the chicken legs on top of the vegetable mixture in the pan and pour your reserved marinade over it. Add about half a litre of water so that the chicken legs are at least half under. Crumble the Maggi cube in the water.
- Put the lid on the pan and close your barbecue. Let it cook for half an hour. After half an hour, the top can be removed to let the sauce thicken.
- Serve the chicken legs with beans and rice.