Authentic jerk chicken

Name: Authentic jerk chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Caribbean recipes
Ingredients: 4 chicken legs; Thyme sprigs, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes; Lime wedges to serve; For the marinade; 3 tbsp pimento (allspice) berries; 1 tbsp black peppercorns; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp celery salt; 2 tbsp thyme leaves; 6 garlic cloves; 4 spring onions; 5cm piece ginger; 3 scotch bonnet chillies; Finely grated zest and juice 1 lime; 1 tbsp distilled malt vinegar or cider vinegar; 2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; For the sauce; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; ½ onion, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 3cm piece ginger, coarsely grated; 1 tsp pimento (allspice) berries; 1 scotch bonnet chilli, chopped; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; ½ tsp thyme leaves; 1 tbsp tomato purée; 2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar; 1 tbsp light soy sauce

Portion size: Serves 4
Prep time 20 min, plus overnight marinating. Cook time 1 hour
Difficulty: medium

Dairy-free

Dom Taylor

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Fire up the coals and let chef Dom Taylor show you how to make authentic jerk chicken. Jamaican jerk isn’t just a hot-spicy method of flavouring meat for the barbecue – it’s a way of life. Want to cook it in the oven? See FAQs.

The secret to proper jerk: “The marinade you use for jerk is only half the story; the slow cooking over coals and the unique smoke from pimento wood is just as important to the final flavour,” says Dom. “Pimento wood can be hard to find in the UK (see FAQs), but throwing some soaked thyme sprigs, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks directly onto the coals helps replicate the flavour.”
Cooking tips: “To get the best out of jerk chicken, you want to cook it slowly, turning and basting it regularly with the jerk sauce. It will take 30-45 minutes for bone-in chicken, so you don’t want your barbecue so hot it’ll burn the outside to a crisp before the centre is cooked through.”
Colour is good:“Don’t worry too much about the chicken charring and turning black – this is just the marinade absorbing the fragrant smoke and the sugars caramelising. It’s all flavour and that charred smokiness is the perfect accompaniment to the fragrant flavours of the marinade.”

Take a look at more authentic Caribbean recipes, including curry goat, proper Jamaican ginger cake and Andi Oliver’s shrimp curry.

Before you start

You need to start the recipe a day ahead. The marinade and sauce can both be made up to 24 hours in advance and kept in the fridge.

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Ingredients

4 chicken legs
Thyme sprigs, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes
Lime wedges to serve

For the marinade

3 tbsp pimento (allspice) berries
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp celery salt
2 tbsp thyme leaves
6 garlic cloves
4 spring onions
5cm piece ginger
3 scotch bonnet chillies
Finely grated zest and juice 1 lime
1 tbsp distilled malt vinegar or cider vinegar
2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil
½ onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3cm piece ginger, coarsely grated
1 tsp pimento (allspice) berries
1 scotch bonnet chilli, chopped
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp thyme leaves
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp distilled malt vinegar or cider vinegar
250ml chicken stock
1 tsp celery salt

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Method

Begin by making the marinade. Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and whizz to a thick paste, scraping down the sides as needed (see Make Ahead).
Make deep slashes all over the chicken legs, put them in a bowl, then season liberally with salt. Add the jerk marinade and massage it into the chicken legs. Cover and chill overnight.
The next day, make the jerk sauce. Pour the oil into a medium saucepan over a medium heat, then add the onion, garlic and ginger. Fry for 5 minutes until soft, then add the pimento berries, scotch bonnet, cinnamon and thyme leaves. Cook for 1 minute, then add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool, then whizz in a blender until smooth (see Make Ahead).
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To cook the chicken, light the barbecue and wait until the coals are glowing white. Throw the soaked thyme, bay and cinnamon directly on the coals.
Place the chicken legs on the cooking grate and cook, turning regularly, for 30-45 minutes (depending on how hot your barbecue is).
Decant some of the sauce into a little bowl and use a pastry brush to apply it regularly to the chicken as it cooks.
If your barbecue has a lid, close it in between to help cook the chicken and to add a smokier flavour.
Once cooked through, let the chicken legs rest for 5 minutes before serving them whole or carved, with lime wedges, the remaining jerk sauce and, if you like, plantain dauphinois.

FAQs

Weather not playing ball for a barbecue? You can roast the jerk chicken in a 200°C/180°C fan/ gas 6 oven for 35-40 minutes, then give it 5-7 minutes under a hot grill to char the skin.

The pimento tree is also known as the allspice tree (Pimenta dioica), part of the myrtle family and native to the West Indies. The dried ground berries are well known as a spice, but in the Caribbean the fragrant leaves are used in cooking too, while the wood is burned to cook jerk.

You can use any cut of chicken, but bone-in is easier to get right as it stays juicier for longer. Boneless cuts will cook faster.