Thai Style Grilled Chicken Recipes

THAI GRILLED CHICKEN (GAI YANG)

Steps:

• Place Marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag. Massage to mix.
• Add the chicken into the ziplock bag and massage to spread the marinade over all the chicken. Marinate for a minimum of 3 hours, preferably overnight (up to 24 hours).
• Remove chicken from the Marinade and discard the Marinade (unless baking in the oven - refer Note 3).
• Heat the outdoor grill on medium high. Or heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a non stick pan over medium high heat on the stove.
• Cook the chicken until golden brown - around 3 minutes each side.
• Rest for a few minutes before serving with lime wedges on the side, and garnished with fresh chilies and cilantro, if using.

CLASSIC THAI BBQ GRILLED CHICKEN RECIPE (WITH TANGY DIPPING SAUCE)

Steps:

• Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir well to dissolve the sugar.
• Add chicken, turning several times to ensure the chicken is covered and literally bathed in the marinade. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate at least 2 hours, or overnight is even better.
• To make the dipping sauce/glaze, place all the dipping sauce/glaze ingredients in a saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil (the smell will be quite pungent as the vinegar burns off). Reduce heat slightly to keep it on a gentle boil. When sauce has reduced to 1/3 and is bubbling all over the surface, remove from heat. The sauce will thicken as it cools and should taste tangy - a mixture of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. Note that it's best to make the sauce right before eating, or it will thicken too much. If this happens, reheat and add a little water.
• Brush your grill with a little vegetable oil, then grill the chicken, turning occasionally. Brush the chicken with the leftover marinade for the first 10 minutes or so, then discard marinade. (If the weather doesn't cooperate, see tip below recipe.)
• Serve with the dipping sauce on the side, or spoon a little sauce over each piece of chicken as a glaze before serving. This dish goes well with a salad or served with rice. ENJOY! If the Weather Doesn't Cooperate: Cook the chicken in your oven!
• Place chicken pieces on a grill pan or on a baking sheet lined with foil.
• Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 45 minutes, or until chicken is nearly done (thicker pieces may need slightly longer).
• Then Turn oven to the "broil" setting (on "high" if you have a choice), and move chicken to one of the upper racks of your oven.
• Baste both sides of chicken with the leftover marinade, or with a little of the dipping sauce, then broil 3-5 minutes per side, or until fully cooked (stay near the oven for this process, or chicken may burn).

AUTHENTIC THAI GRILLED CHICKEN RECIPE (GAI YANG ไก่ย่าง)

Steps:

• For this recipe, I'm going to cook 2 full chickens, together weighing in at 3.6 kilos. If you wanted, you could also make this recipe with 3 - 4 kilos of chicken pieces, or really, however much chicken you want.
• For this gai yang (ไก่ย่าง) to be at its finest, it's best to marinate the chicken overnight and grill it the next day, but if you don't have the time, marinate the chicken for at least a few hours.
• Peel about 4 bulbs of garlic, which should be about 30 - 40 cloves in all.
• Thinly slice 2 stalks of lemongrass and cut off the roots of 8 stalks of coriander.
• Now comes the hard part, pounding everything using a mortar and pestle (If you don't have a mortar and pestle you can blend the ingredients in a food processor (but I'd really recommend you invest in a Thai style mortar and pestle).
• Add small amounts of garlic, lemongrass, black peppercorns, and coriander roots to the mortar and pestle and pound them until the oils come out, and you have a coarse paste. Keep pounding until all the marinade ingredients are finished. You'll probably need to load the mortar a few times.
• Put all the pounded marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl, stir them up, and add 4 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, and 2 tablespoons of palm sugar. Mix everything together while adding about 8 tablespoons of water to the mixture. You should end up with a potent marinade that looks like a chunky garlicky sauce.
• If you're using whole chickens, you'll want to butterfly cut them starting from the breast side down to the butt. Flatten the chickens out. This is going to prepare it for the grill (Watch the video to see how to do it).
• In a big pan or mixing bowl start to rub the marinade on the chicken, making sure the garlic, herbs, and soy sauce go into all parts of the chicken. Rub down both chickens using all the marinade.
• Cover the chickens and allow them to rest overnight. You might stir them a couple of times if you remember.
• The next day, take out your chicken, and the first step is to light your charcoal. You want a low even heat, coals that aren't too hot, but a low and even.
• Put the chicken on the grill and begin cooking!
• Wait about 20 minutes or so (but monitoring them to make sure they don't burn), before making your first flip. You can baste the chicken with the extra marinade.
• Cook the chicken on low heat for about 1.5 hours, until the chicken is cooked through to the bone and the skin is golden dark brown on the outside.
• Take the chicken off the grill, and dismantle the bamboo supports.
• If you have a Chinese cleaver, first cut the chicken in half from the neck to the butt, and from there cut off the drumstick, wing, and chop the rest of the chicken into strips.
• Semi-dried tamarind pulp can usually be bought at the supermarket in a small block. To rehydrate it, get a couple tablespoons of hot water and start to work the tamarind into the hot water. This should turn it into a nice tamarind water sauce.
• In a bowl, mix 1.5 tablespoons of khao kua (toasted sticky rice, recipe here), 1.5 tablespoons of chili flakes, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, and 8 tablespoons of tamarind juice.
• Mix all of the ingredients together.
• After mixing up the sauce, make sure you taste test. You're looking for the perfect sweet, sour, and salty combination. You might need to add more tamarind juice, more sugar, or more fish sauce to balance it out.
• Top off your gai yang sauce with some chopped up cilantro.
• Happy eating!

THAI-STYLE GRILLED CHICKEN (GAI YANG) RECIPE

Steps:

• Combine garlic, cilantro, sugar, white pepper, coriander, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, and lemongrass (if using) in the bowl of a food processor. Process until a rough paste is formed. Set aside.
• Place chicken halves flat on a cutting board. Insert 2 metal skewers into each chicken half, running parallel through legs and breasts. Transfer chicken to a baking dish that just fits them. Rub on all surfaces with marinade. Cover, transfer to refrigerator, and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• When ready to cook, light 1 chimney full of charcoal . When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread coals evenly over half of coal grate. Alternatively, set half the burners of a gas grill to high heat. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil grilling grate.
• Place chicken, skin side up, on cooler side of grill, with legs facing toward hotter side. Cover grill, with vents on lid open and aligned over chicken. Open bottom vents of grill. Cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 140°F (60°C), about 45 minutes. Carefully flip chicken and place, skin side down, on hotter side of grill, with breasts pointed toward cooler side. Cover and cook until skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 145 to 150°F (63 to 66°C), about 3 minutes longer. (Be careful, as the skin is very prone to burning.) If chicken threatens to burn before temperature is achieved, carefully slide to cooler side of grill, cover, and continue to cook until done. Do not leave lid off for longer than it takes to check temperature, or chicken will burn.
• Transfer chicken to a cutting board and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Carve and serve with chile dipping sauce.

THAI-INSPIRED GRILLED CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Whisk soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, cilantro, sesame oil, ginger, Sriracha, garlic, lime juice, and lemongrass paste together in a bowl.
• Put chicken thighs in a resealable plastic bag, pour marinade over chicken, and marinate for 2 hours or overnight for an even better flavor.
• Preheat the grill to medium-high heat and oil the grate.
• Remove chicken thighs from marinade, discarding marinade.
• Grill chicken thighs until they are no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 3 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
• Remove from grill and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

THAI-STYLE GRILLED CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl.
• Mix thoroughly.
• Add chicken and leave to marinate at least one hour, preferably longer.
• Grill chicken on the BBQ, hotplate or in the griller until golden brown and cooked through.
• Ususlly you would expect 12 thigh fillets to feed 4 to 6 people- in my family the kids eat 4 each so this recipe serves 3.

THAI GRILLED CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Place chicken in a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag. Whisk together fish sauce, lime juice, sherry, brown sugar, chili sauce, minced garlic, Sriracha sauce, sesame oil, and lemongrass paste in a bowl and pour over chicken. Seal the bag and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but up to 8 hours for maximum flavor.
• Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat and lightly oil the grill. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade.
• Grill until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 12 minutes total, turning halfway through the cooking time. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Transfer to a serving platter and let rest 5 minutes.

THAI MUSLIM-STYLE GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Marinade
• Spatchcock chicken the Thai way by placing it breast side up on a large cutting board. Using a sharp, heavy knife and working just to the side of the center of the breast, cut down through to the breastbone (do not cut all the way through to the backbone). Now that the path has been created, use the same knife-or, easier, a sturdy pair of kitchen scissors-to make a clean cut all the way through the breastbone and anything else that is still connecting the 2 sides of the breast together. Open up chicken and turn skin side up. Press down on chicken to flatten. Pat thoroughly dry.
• Grind peppercorns in a spice mill or a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a food processor or leave in mortar and pestle and add garlic, cilantro roots, brown sugar, fish sauce, turmeric, salt, coriander, cumin, and cardamom and process or pound until smooth. Coat chicken completely in marinade, pressing to adhere and working into nooks and crannies. Place in a large bowl and cover with a plate. Let chill at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.
• Let chicken sit at room temperature 1 hour before grilling or baking.
• Sauce
• Purée pineapple and vinegar in a food processor or blender until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and add garlic, jalapeños, granulated sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat so sauce is at a simmer and cook until thick and smooth (consistency should be similar to cocktail sauce), about 5 minutes.
• Chicken and assembly
• Grind saffron to a fine powder in a spice mill or a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a small saucepan and add granulated sugar, salt, and ¼ cup water and cook over medium heat just until heated through and small bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Whisk in coconut oil and remove from heat.
• If using a grill, prepare a grill for medium-high indirect heat (for a charcoal grill, bank coals on one side of grill; for a gas grill, leave one or two burners off); oil grate. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on cooler part of grill. Close lid and grill, rotating chicken but keeping skin side up every 5-10 minutes, until skin looks dry and golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast and thighs registers 130°-140°, 35-40 minutes. If using charcoal and your coals are dying, start a new chimney of coals 15 minutes before this point so you are ready for the next step.
• Uncover grill and increase heat to high (add more coals for a charcoal grill). Brush one fourth of basting liquid over skin and turn chicken over, positioning over direct heat on the hot side of the grill. Grill, brushing half of remaining basting liquid over bone side of chicken, until skin is browned and lightly charred in spots, about 3 minutes. (Watch carefully as this can happen quickly.) Turn chicken over and return to cooler side of grill. Brush skin with remaining basting liquid. Cover grill and continue to grill chicken until thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 160° and thickest part of thighs registers 165°, 10-15 minutes longer.
• If using an oven, place a rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 350°. Place chicken, skin side up, on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Brush one third of basting liquid over skin. Bake, rotating baking sheet every 10 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast and thighs registers 130°-140°, 35-40 minutes.
• Increase oven temperature to 450°. Brush remaining basting liquid over skin and continue to bake, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until skin is crisp and charred and thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 160° and thickest part of thighs registers 165°, 10-15 minutes longer.
• Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest at least 15 minutes. Carve up further as desired.
• Top dipping sauce with cilantro. Serve chicken with rice and dipping sauce alongside.
• Cook's Note
• If you cook the chicken in the oven, using the dhungar method to perfume the finished chicken with the scent of smoky ghee is highly recommended.

THAI STYLE GRILLED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Remove the tough outer skin from the lemon grass and roughly chop. Place the lemon grass, ginger, garlic, onion, lime zest and juice, rice vinegar, sugar and olive oil in a processor and blend until smooth.
• With a sharp pair of kitchen scissors or knife, make a deep cut into the thighs and to the bone on both sides of the drumsticks.
• Place the marinade in a large bowl, add the chicken thighs and drumsticks and mix until coated. Cover and chill for at least 2hrs.
• Grill the chicken on a medium heat for about 15-20 mins turning every 5 mins until the chicken is opaque with no trace of pink at the bone.
• Serve the chicken and sprinkle with chopped coriander alongside a sweet chilli sauce dip.