Next time you want to mix up your grilling, try Thai grilled chicken with sweet chili sauce. Smoky, sweet and spicy, it’s a south-east asian flavour explosion. Seriously. Try it.
I’m always looking for better ways to grill chicken. Different ways. Anything to avoid serving grilled chicken with BBQ sauce. Thai grilled chicken fits the bill.
I’m not saying grilled chicken with BBQ sauce is bad. It’s a staple. It’s easy. The fact that every supermarket sells 6200 types of BBQ sauce tells me it’s popular.
It also tells me everyone is doing it. Run of the mill. Boring even. Burn a little chicken. Hide it with some Bull’s Eye BBQ sauce. Sound familiar?
Thai grilled chicken is about big flavours
Doesn’t have to be like that. Thai grilled chicken isn’t boring or run of the mill. It is a double layer of big flavours. A good soak in a blend of red thai curry paste, garlic and ginger makes sure of that.
Add the kiss of smoke and you have something special. Grill marks. Crispy skin. Summer grilling heaven.
thai grilled chicken with sweet chili sauce
Ingredients
Chicken
- 8 pieces chicken I used boned, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 5 good sized sprigs of cilantro leaves, stems and even roots if you have them
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper - white is more authentic if you have it
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 2 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil
Sweet Thai chill sauce
- 3 Tbsp sambal oelek chili paste
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tsp cornstarch
- good handful of chopped cilantro
Instructions
Chicken
- Combine all the ingredients except the chicken in a food processor and pulse until you get a smooth paste.
- Toss the marinade with the chicken and set aside for up to an hour.
- Prepare your grill for indirect heat. Place a drip pan under the chicken. Grill, skin side up, for about 10 minutes. Turn the chicken and continue to grill another 5 minutes. Keep the grill lid down for this step.
- Working with two or three pieces at a time, place the chicken over direct heat and grill to crisp and colour the skin. The lid stays up the whole time. It will flare up so be ready to move it out of the way. Repeat until all the chicken is coloured up.
- Return the chicken to indirect heat, cover again and cook until an instant read thermometer registers 160 for white meat and 170 for dark meat. Allow the chicken to rest briefly and serve with sweet Thai chili sauce.
Sweet Thai chili sauce
- Combine all the ingredients except the cilantro. Stir to combine thoroughly and heat, over medium low heat until it comes to a gentle boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Cool.
- When cool, add the chopped cilantro and stir to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Grill roasted leg of lamb is a great way to bring summer flavours to a wintery cut of meat. The Greeks know this. They have since about the beginning of time.
Whole lamb on a spit over a fire is a Greek party classic. This is just as good – just on a smaller scale. Smoke kissed lamb seasoned simply with garlic and rosemary with a lemon jus. Hard to beat. Grill roasted lamb.
There are a few things to consider here. Bone-in leg of lamb is impossible to cook evenly. Just look at a leg of lamb critically some time.
It’s huge at one end and tiny at the other. Makes cooking a turkey seem like a cakewalk. Use boneless leg of lamb and it’s way easier to get evenly cooked grill roasted lamb.
Dry brine for the best grill roasted lamb
Dry-brining works wonders with lamb. Seriously. Absolute magic. Plan on allowing 36-48 hours to season the meat through and through. It makes a difference.
As with any big hunk of meat, a lower cooking temperature helps a more even cooking process. Rotate it along the way to offset any hot spots on the grill.
Finally, this is about lamb and smoke. Charcoal smoke. I have no idea if this will work on a gas grill. I cook using charcoal. It might work if you add wood chips. I don’t know.
I kind of doubt it though. Unless you can find a way to get gentle smoke for an hour or so. You know your grill better than I do…
This is not a recipe that will make lamb haters into lamb lovers. But for those on the fence, grill roasted leg of lamb is a recipe to win them over.
