Big Al's Thai Grilled Chicken

Well, long time no post… wow, almost 5 months?!? As “they” say—stuff happens. :) Busy stuff, crazy stuff, time-flying-by-at-the-speed-of-light stuff.


Tonight, however, I made something for dinner that was just too awesome not to share. Shoot, it may be another couple of months before I can post again so let’s make this a good one!


I was looking for some new “grill recipes” and found a small booklet which came with our (awesome) Broilmaster grill a few years ago. As I leafed through the recipes, I came across one called Big Al’s Thai Grilled Chicken. I am not sure just who Big Al is, but if this recipe is any indication of what the rest of them are like, I will have to refer to this little book often this summer.


Not sure, though, if I’m ready to make yeasty sticky buns on the grill, though!


Here’s the original recipe. I made a variation (using boneless, skinless chicken breasts and serving differently), which I will describe afterward.


Big Al’s Thai Grilled Chicken
Serves 8
From Grilling with Broilmaster


5 T Asian fish sauce
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup canned coconut milk
2 T lime juice
2 T five-spice powder
2 T soy sauce
1 T crushed dried asian chilies
1 T curry powder
2 whole chickens, about 3 pounds each, quartered


hot cooked rice for 8


1 red onion, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
8 large butter lettuce leaves


Dipping Sauce:


1 ½ cups rice wine vinegar
¾ cup sugar
2 T minced garlic
1 T red Vietnamese chili sauce



Directions:

Combine the fish sauce through the curry powder in a large plastic container; then add the chicken. Turn every 12 hours for 2 days.

Prepare the dipping sauce at least 2 hours in advance. Strain before using.


Preheat the grill to high and sear the chicken for about 2 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, turning and basting as needed, until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork (about 20 minutes).


Serve with the rice, onion, tomatoes, and cucumbers on a large leaf of butter lettuce with dipping sauce.



Okay, first I’m not big on prepping whole chickens. And since we don’t really like dark meat, there’s a lot of waste. So I decided to use chicken breast, and had a bag of chicken tenders in the freezer.


I used 1-1/2 pounds of chicken tenders and halved the marinade ingredients. I used soy milk and ¼ teaspoon of coconut extract instead of the coconut milk (since I only needed 2 tablespoons, I didn’t want to open a can). I marinated the chicken tenders for 3 hours, and did not baste the chicken while it cooked since I didn’t need to sear it then cook for a long time (they took about 7 minutes to cook at a medium-high heat).


For the dipping sauce, I made 1/3 recipe and could have used more. I subbed sambal oelek for the chili sauce.


Now, for serving. My Bibb lettuce is still small, so we ended up piling the lettuce on our plates, topping with the chicken tenders, then cukes, tomatoes (I forgot the onion), and sauce. I added a large sprinkling of Thai basil as well, and that (IMO) really made the dish.



Excellent, wonderful, stupendous meal! Very flavorful, very pretty to look at, and a definite repeater for this summer.


I made enough chicken for 2 more meals, and one will be lunch tomorrow. I plan to slice the chicken and serve it with rice noodles, chopped red pepper, chopped cuke, hoping to remember the onion (scallions, actually), and a sprinkling of peanuts as well as the Thai basil. And that delicious sauce.