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trini stew chicken

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Meat & Poultry

Delicious Lemongrass Stewed Chicken in 30 Minutes.

Leave a Comment on Delicious Lemongrass Stewed Chicken in 30 Minutes.

Growing up on the islands meant that whenever we got a fever mom would make us fever-grass tea. Basically we grew up associating being sick with this bush. Fast-forward years later and being new to Canada, I was blown away by this very same fever-grass. My cousin invited me to meet her in Toronto for lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant and things would never be the same again. From that day on I’ve been in love with fever-grass aka Lemongrass! Lemongrass chicken (grilled) on plain on steamed white rice, 30 years later and I still lovingly recall the dish.

You’ll Need…

3 lbs chicken (I used drumsticks)
1 1/2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
1 medium tomato (diced)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 habanero pepper (see notes)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt (adjust)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 scallion (chopped fine)
6-8 sprigs thyme
3-5 sticks lemongrass (about 5 inches)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon golden brown sugar
2 cups water

Notes! Use any hot pepper you like or can source and in the amounts you can tolerate. With the lemongrass I removed the first layer of ‘skin’, then used the back (spine) of my knife to smash them (explained in the video below).

While I didn’t mention a lime or lemon (or 1/2 cup of vinegar) in the ingredient list, I did use the juice of the lime to wash the chicken drumsticks after I removed the skin off them, along with cool water. I know not everyone is comfortable washing chicken.

Season the chicken with everything except the water, thyme, lemon grass, scallion, parsley, oil and sugar. Give it a good mix, then allow it to marinate for at least one hour.

The browning step is best followed using the video below as I couldn’t pause to take pics as it happens very quickly. Heat the oil on a medium high flame in a deep heavy pot, then add the brown sugar and stir (explained in the video), it will melt, go frothy and then a deep amber. This is when you’ll add the seasoned chicken to the pot and stir to coat. In the video I explain why you may need to turn the fan on in your kitchen and why if the sugar goes black, STOP and do NOT continue.

Turn the heat to medium, cover the pot and cook for 4 minutes. After-which remove the lid and burn off any liquid which may have sprouted naturally.

In the same bowl you marinated the chicken, swish around 2 cups of water to pick up any remaining marinade. This water now goes into the pot to fully cook the chicken. Add the thyme and lemongrass. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook with the lid slightly ajar.

20-25 minutes later it’s time to personalize things. Taste and adjust the salt to your liking, ensure the gravy’s consistency is on par to how you and your family enjoy and remove the pieces of thyme and lemongrass and into the rubbish. They’ve completed their mission.

Keep in mind that the gravy will thicken a bit as it cools and the residual heat in the pot will also assist in doing so. Toss in the parsley and scallion and mix. Turn off the stove.

An incredible way to add a new flavor to a classic Caribbean dish, in brown stew chicken. Feel free to add a teaspoon of grated ginger along with a bay leaf if you want. Serve with rice, roti, bread, ground provisions on any way you usually serve saucy chicken dishes. My fave.. on top of white cheddar mac and cheese.

Gluten Free Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Stew Chicken (brown stew) With Potato.

1 Comment on Caribbean Stew Chicken (brown stew) With Potato.

Brown Stew! Nah.. that’s another recipe altogether, but for some it may be how they would recognize or identify this dish. Stew Chicken (don’t say stewed) is as classic a recipe gets, when it comes to Caribbean culinary culture. Loaded with deep flavors of herbs, ginger and caramelized sugar, braised until the chicken is falling apart and a dish you’d readily prepare when hosting guests.

For those weekdays when mom didn’t have enough chicken to make a complete dish, she would toss in potatoes to stretch it for our family of six.

You’ll Need…

4 lbs boneless chicken thighs (bone in works excellent also)
1 heaping tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
3/4 tablespoon salt (adjust)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 scotch bonnet pepper (* optional | sliced thin)
1 med tomato (diced)
1 medium onion (diced)
5 medium potatoes (1/4)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon golden brown sugar
3-4 cups water
2 tablespoon parsley (chopped)

Important! If making this dish gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the Worcestershire Sauce, which can be left out if it’s an issue.

Season the chicken (2-3 inch size pieces) with the salt, Worcestershire Sauce, tomato, onion, ginger, Caribbean green seasoning, black pepper and scotch bonnet pepper. Add as much scotch bonnet as you can handle or use a spicy pepper you like or can source. Yes, Habanero works great too. As always, wash your hands with soap and water after handling spicy peppers.

Allow the chicken to marinate for 1-2 hours or overnight if you have the time.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot or a medium high flame, then add the brown sugar. This is the most critical part of the recipe, so may I recommend that you watch the video below to follow along. The sugar will melt, go frothy, then amber and onto a deep amber. At this point you will add the seasoned chicken to the pot (being careful) and stir well. The goal is to coat the chicken with the caramelized sugar. No the dish will NOT be sweet.

Should the sugar go beyond dark amber = BLACK! STOP.. cool the pot down completely, wash, dry and repeat, black or burnt sugar will give the dish a bitter taste. While the sugar was melting and going to the desired color, I constantly stirred the pot (DRY Spoon).

With the heat still on high, bring to a boil (lid on). Yes, it will produce it’s on natural juices.

After 3-5 minutes you can now remove the lid and try to burn off that liquid. That will intensify the color and flavor. It will take about 3-5 minutes.

In the same bowl you marinated the chicken, swish around 3 cups of water to pick up any remaining marinade.

With the chicken now browned and there’s no liquid, add the potato to the pot and stir well.

Then add the water (from the bowl) to the pot and bring up to a boil. If you find that the potatoes are not covered, add the 4th cup of water.

On a high heat it will come to a boil in about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to a rolling boil, place the lid on slightly ajar and let it go until the chicken is fully cooked and the potato falling apart.

I purposely put the potato in large pieces as I wanted to maintain it’s shape, even when cooked. BUT.. near the end I was a bit vigorous when I stirred the pot to gently bruise them so it would release it’s starch and thicken the gravy.

Time for you to determine if the gravy is thick enough for your liking and do taste and adjust the salt level. Be mindful that as the dish cools, it will naturally thicken too.

Toss in the parsley and get ready to enjoy an incredible meal. Well, you’ll need some steamed rice, roti or even as a topping for pasta tossed in butter. Yea, mac and cheese would be elevated with this as a side.

Back to mom and not having enough chicken. It wasn’t that we didn’t have enough, but a matter of her planning her weekly menu. On the weekend we’d butcher two large chickens. The first would be for the large Sunday lunch (biggest meal of the week in Trinidad and Tobago) and the other bird would be divided in half. Those two halves of chicken would make it’s way into two different meals.

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Pigeon Peas.

1 Comment on Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Pigeon Peas.

A classic dish during pigeon peas season (usually from late December to early April) in the Caribbean. Freshly shelled pigeon peas are pre cooked, then added to traditional stewed chicken for an iconic dish to enjoy with rice, dumplings, roti or a side to ground provisions. Almost the same dish is made with a curry base – I’ll share that one another time.

You’ll Need…

3 cups green pigeon peas
3-4 lbs chicken (legs and thighs)
3/4 tablespoon salt (adjust)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 heaping tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
2-3 drops Angostura Bitters
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 medium tomato (diced)
1 medium onion (diced)
2 1/2 cups water
2 cups pumpkin (cubed)
1 scotch bonnet pepper
2 tablespoon parsley- optional (chopped)

Important! I used a whole scotch bonnet pepper, adjust to your own liking/tolerance and do wear gloves and wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling such hot peppers. If you cannot source fresh pigeon peas, you may use frozen. Should you only have access to canned (tin) pigeon peas, there’s no need to precook it. Just rinse well and add to the chicken when I did.

Rinse the peas in cool water, then place in a deep sauce pan and cover with water. On a med/high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce to a rolling boil.

While the peas boil, we’ll season the chicken. The chicken was cut into serving size pieces (and washed with lemon juice and cool water) and placed in a large bowl where we’ll now season it. Add the onion, tomato, black pepper, salt, Worcestershire Sauce, bitters, Caribbean Green Seasoning, tomato ketchup, ginger and scotch bonnet pepper. Mix well to coat the chicken with the marinade. Typically I’d say marinate for at least 2 hours, but today we’ll go as long as it takes the peas to cook.

After 35-40 minutes of boiling , turn off the stove, drain the peas and set aside.

Now in a large heavy pot, add the oil and go on a high flame. Add the sugar to the pot and move it around. The sugar will melt, then go frothy and finally go dark. As soon as you see it deep amber (NOT BLACK), start adding the seasoned chicken to the pot. Stir well to coat. Bring to a boil. If the sugar goes BLACK.. STOP. Allow the pot to cool, wash, dry and start over or you’ll end up with bitter tasting chicken.

Reduce the heat to med/low, cover the pot and let it go. In the same bowl you marinated the chicken, add the water and move it around to pick up any remaining marinade. Set aside.

Ten minutes later (stir a couple times at least), remove the lid off the pot (there will be some juices), crank up the heat to burn that of that liquid and to give the chicken a deeper color and flavor base.

It will take about 8-10 minutes to get rid of that liquid. Now add the cooked pigeon peas, diced pumpkin and thyme. Mix well. Then add the water from the bowl into the pot. And bring back to a boil.

Turn the heat down to a simmer, lid slightly ajar and cook until everything is tender and you have a lovely gravy.

After 25 minutes, it time to personalize things. Taste for salt and adjust, crush some of the pumpkin pieces along with some peas to thicken the gravy and be sure to cook down until you achieve a consistency of gravy you’re happy with. Top with some freshly chopped parsley for a punch of color when you turn off the stove.

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Meat & Poultry

Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Red Beans Recipe.

32 Comments on Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Red Beans Recipe.

This recipe is one of my favorite dishes to prepare when I’m homesick or when things are not going well and I need a pick-me-up! It combines two dishes I just adore, Trinidad stew chicken and stewed red beans. Two things mom would cook on Sunday’s when the entire family were together… pure joy! It works well as a side to rice, roti, dumplings, ground provisions.. even pasta! And if you want you can add some coconut dumplings the last 10 minutes of cooking  and make it a true one pot meal.

You’ll Need

3 Lbs Chicken (I like using drum sticks)
1 scallion (chopped)
1 onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (diced)
1 teaspoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger
3 sprigs thyme
3 drops worcheshire sauce
1 small tomato (chopped)
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
2 cups water
1 can red kidney beans (rinsed/drained)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon veg oil

 

Wash and season the chicken with all the ingredients except, the water, beans, sugar and oil. Allow this to marinate for about 2 hrs or 15 minutes if you’re in a rush. Remember to wash your hands with soap and water after handling the scotch bonnet pepper and don’t include any of the seeds if you’re concerned about the raw heat.

Heat the oil in a deep pan on med/high, then add the sugar and stir well. Be sure to use a dry metal spoon and have the seasoned chicken close. This will all about timing for the ultimate flavor and color. As the sugar melts it will go liquid, then frothy and start changing color. Let it go until you have a rich amber color (NOT BLACK or it will taste burnt), then start adding the pieces of seasoned chicken to the pot. Mix as you do to coat the chicken pieces with the lovely caramelized colour. Don’t worry it won’t be sweet! Place the lid on the pot, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5-8 minutes. It will spring it’s own juices.

Now remove the lid and turn up the heat to burn off any liquid. This will intensify the color and flavor of the chicken. As this cooks down, add the 2 cups of water to the bowl you had the chicken marinating in (to pick up any remaining marinade) and rinse off the red beans.

With all the liquid gone from the pot, add the water and top with the beans, then bring to a boil. Lid closed, simmer for 20 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked.

After 20 minutes or so, taste for salt and adjust accordingly and if you find that the gravy is a bit ‘thin’ turn up the heat (lid off) and reduce to the consistency you like. Personally I like it a bit thick. Remember that it will thicken up a bit as it cools.

This is a very comforting dish, packed with rich Caribbean flavors and it’s something your family will be asking for on the regular.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. Oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Meat & Poultry

Pak Choi With Leftover Stewed Chicken.

11 Comments on Pak Choi With Leftover Stewed Chicken.

This recipe is a take on the one our mom would do with left over stewed pork, which is still something I crave from time to time (queen cud real cook). After our last trip to the Asian grocery store out in Mississauga, these baby pak choi were in the fridge waiting for some love. With some left over stew chicken in hand, I thought I’d revise my mom’s recipe and use chicken instead of the pork. Stewed beef (Caribbean style)  also works great as well. BTW, I was asked “how does one have leftover stewed chicken?” by one of our friends out in the Netherlands… I fully understand what you mean, a pot of stew chicken goes very fast.

You’ll need…

Pak Choi (2-3lbs)
1 med onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon veg or olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
fresh black pepper (pinch)

*  leftover stew chicken (see recipe here) (4-8 pieces)

Note: Do remember when using hot peppers that the majority of ‘heat’ is in the seeds and area surrounding them (sort of white membrane). So avoid using those if you don’t want to deal with extreme heat.

Wash and chop the pak choi into 1/2 inch pieces. I basically removed all the leaves from the main stem, gave them a good wash and then cut thin strips lengthwise. I then chopped those length pieces into the size I wanted. Remember to wash these good as you may find sand between the stems and trapped in the creases of the leaves. In the video below you’ll see exactly how I did everything.

As the rinsed pak choi pieces drain, chop the onion, garlic and pepper.

Heat the oil in a fairly deep pan on medium heat and add the slices of garlic and allow that to cook for 3-4 minutes on a low heat. We’re trying to release the flavors without burning the garlic. As soon as you see the edges go golden and the garlic soften, turn up the heat to med-high and start adding the cut pak choi to the pot.

Now add all the other ingredients (salt, pepper, black pepper, onion), except the leftover chicken to the pot and give it a good stir.

When this comes to a boil you will notice it will wilt down and spring a lot of it’s own natural liquid. Cover the pot and allow to simmer for 15 minutes on low heat.

After 15 minutes, remove the lid (do remember to stir ever 4-5 minutes) add the pieces of leftover stewed chicken and give it a good stir. There should still be a bit of liquid in the pot, so it’s time to burn that off. I like my pak choi with a little crunch, so I now turn up the heat and burn off any excess liquid before the pak choi overcooks. In 2-3 minutes the dish should be completely ready for partaking.

Check for salt and adjust accordingly. If you want to brighten this up a bit, you can ad some chopped tomato at the end for color. The infusion of the leftover stewed chicken (which had ginger and other goodness) will take this dish up to another level. I guarantee you!

Before you go, don’t forget to check out the latest cooking videos, connect with me on twitter and join our community on facebook. oh yea! leave me a comment below – it’s appreciated.

Meat & Poultry

Scrumptious Island Stew Chicken With Chick Peas.

29 Comments on Scrumptious Island Stew Chicken With Chick Peas.

trini stew chicken recipe (14)

This dish takes me back to when I first moved to Canada and would hang out with my cousin and her husband. He’s the one who got me into lifting weights way back when. After work they would pick me up and head over to their place where we’d work out in their home gym and my cousin usually had this simmering on the stove for us after we were done working out. Our evenings consisted of working out, having dinner and playing a bootleg copy of Tetris. Good ole days!

You’ll Need…

4 lbs chicken  – cut into serving size pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced or crushed
1 teaspoon fresh  ginger – crushed/sliced
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (one that can withstand high heat)
1 medium onion – chopped
1 medium tomato – chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4cup water
dash of black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (I used Habanero)
1 green onion or chive (scallion) – chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 lime or lemon or 3 tablespoons of vinegar
1/2 teaspoon green seasoning
1 can chickpeas (Channa) 540 ml/194 fl oz

* I used chicken legs since I love the flavor you get from dark meat. If using chicken breast, I would sill toss in a couple pieces of dark meat just to balance things a bit.

In a large bowl place the cut pieces of chicken and pour the vinegar/lime or lemon juice and work between all the pieces of chicken. Rinse with cool water and drain. Then add all the ingredients, except the oil, sugar, chick peas and water. Allow this to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or 2 hours to get best results.

trini stew chicken recipe

trini stew chicken recipe (2)

In a large heavy pot – I used an enameled cast iron pot, as I didn’t want to dig for the iron pot I got in Trinidad a few years back. A heavy pot enables better distribution of heat and makes stewing the meat much easier. Heat the oil on high heat, then add the brown sugar and stir. This is a bit of a tricky process and it’s important you get it right. No worries, I have faith in you. You want the sugar to completely dissolve, then start going frothy and finally it will go to a rich dark brown colour. DON”T let it go black or really dark brown or it will give the dish a bitter taste. Follow with the pics below.

As soon as you get the rich dark brown colour, add the pieces of seasoned chicken and stir so every piece gets colored with the caramel we just made. Use a spoon with a long handle when putting the seasoned chicken into the pot, as the hot oil/sugar combo can cause some splattering.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium/low, cover the pot and allow that to cook for 15 minutes (stir occasionally).

trini stew chicken recipe (3)

trini stew chicken recipe (4)

trini stew chicken recipe (5)

trini stew chicken recipe (6)

If there’s any marinade left in the bowl – keep it. While this cooks, open and rinse the can of channa (chick peas). I like to rinse any canned beans I use as I don’t care for the liquid it’s packed in, plus it’s usually loaded in sodium. After a good rinse, empty it into to bowl with the left over marinade.

trini stew chicken recipe (7)

trini stew chicken recipe (8)

By this time the chicken should have a nice rich brown colour. Remove the lid and turn up the heat to cook off all the liquid which developed as the lid was on. The key is to burn off ALL that liquid.

trini stew chicken recipe (9)

trini stew chicken recipe (10)

As soon as the liquid burns off, add the leftover marinade and chick peas to the pot. Give it a good stir and add the 3/4 cup of water. Bring this up to a boil, cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow this to cook for about 12 minutes. Stir a couple times during this cooking period. After 10-12 minutes, check to see if the gravy is runny or thick. If you find that it’s too thin, turn up the heat and cook off some of the liquid. For me,, the perfect consistency is like a stew or thick soup as I usually eat this on a bed of rice and love thick gravy.

trini stew chicken recipe (12)

trini stew chicken recipe (13)

Give this one a try – it’s loaded with flavour and I’m sure it will be a hit with your family and friends! Please leave me your comments or questions below as it’s always appreciated. Even if it’s just to say hello. And don’t forget to check out the links at the side for the Cooking Videos,  connect with me on Twitter and to join our select group on Facebook. See the images on the right side of the page to get started. And before I go I’d like to invite you to check out our new store, stocked with everyday cooking items. Including the cast iron pot I used in making this recipe. Browse The Caribbean Store. Do check out the huge selection of pepper sauces (Hot sauces) while you’re there!

Meat & Poultry

Ultimate Trinbagonian Stew Chicken.

67 Comments on Ultimate Trinbagonian Stew Chicken.

trini recipes stew chickenIf you’ve been reading the blog or getting the weekly recipes sent to you directly you’ll know that I’ve been tagging some recipes as being “Ultimate” (Ultimate Curry Goat | Ultimate Curry Chicken), so today I’ll like to add another classic dish to the “Ultimate” series.

I think it was about 4 years ago and we were on the French side of St Maarten for the day. We had booked an all-day beach getaway with a brief tour of the island. It was about 11 am and we had already done the island tour and we had a 1 hr break in Marigot at one of the craft markets before heading off to the beach to spend the day. Our daughters were already getting bored (they hate tourist traps) and according to them..STARVING! As we walked around looking for something for them to eat, they noticed one of the restaurants had  a huge sign up with their daily specials and a stew chicken platter was one of the featured items. Yup! They had found their own little shangrila! They were soon very disappointed and mad at me (don’t ask me why), as it turned out that the restaurant was only just serving breakfast and the lunch dinner menu would not be open until another couple hours. If only steupes (kiss teeth) could kill, that poor girl who told them that, would be dead on the spot. You couldn’t even force feed our daughters croissants even if their lives depended on it. Yea, that was a pretty grumpy day after that. I think their taste buds had already made reservations only to be canceled by the talk of breakfast and croissants.

In this “stew” we’ll be trying to  only use fresh ingredients to truly get that “ultimate” taste at the end, so you’ll notice that I didn’t opt to use some of my already prepared green seasoning mix.

You’ll Need…

4-5 lbs chicken  – cubed into serving size pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced or crushed
1 teaspoon fresh  ginger – crushed/sliced
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (one that can withstand high heat)
1 medium onion – chopped
1 medium tomato – chopped
3 tablespoon cilantro (or shado beni) chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (only if you like your food spicy)
1 green onion or chive (scallion) – chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 lime or lemon or 3 tablespoons of vinegar
1 small shallot

* If you can get Spanish Thyme (aka podina), use 1-2 medium leaves finely chopped with the seasoning of the chicken.
* CHICKEN – I used a whole chicken that I divided into servings size pieces. I like the mixture of dark and white meat, but if you prefer you can use chicken parts such as legs and/or thighs and if you only eat chicken breast (or chicken chest as it’s commonly called on the islands) as one of my good friends does.. basically it’s your choice. If using chicken breast, it’s important that you allow the seasoned meat to marinate at least 2hours to really infuse the meat and to help prevent it being overly dry when cooked.

TIP :  Leave the ginger in large pieces if you’d like to fish out when the dish is done.

Since I don’t have a separate cutting board for meat and vegetables I usually prepare my seasonings first before getting the chicken all over the board. This simply means chopping the onion, pepper,thyme, shallot, cilantro, tomato, garlic and scallion.

seasoning for stew chicken

The next step is to cut, wash and season the chicken. If you’re lucky enough to have drum sticks and thighs there’s no need for cutting the meat into serving size pieces. In a future video I’ll show you how to divide and part-off a whole chicken. Put the pieces of  chicken in a large bowl, squeeze the lime or lemon juice (or vinegar) on it , then add a couple cups of water and wash. Try to remove as much fat and skin as you can. Rinse with a new batch of water and drain. * The water used in washing the chicken pieces is NOT mentioned in the ingredients list.

Now season by adding everything except the sugar, oil and water mentioned in the ingredients list. Mix thoroughly and allow to marinate for a couple hours in the fridge. For best results, marinate overnight.

trini stew chicken

As we’ve done with other “stew” recipes, it’s now time to brown the meat and not only give it a rich brown colour, but give it it’s truly unique taste. If you use the search box above (providing you’re not reading this from an rss feed) and search for “stew” you’ll find the other recipes. On a medium to high heat, put the oil in a heavy and deep pan to heat. Then add the sugar.. move it around until it starts going liquid. Please have the seasoned meat very close and I recommend you use a long handle spoon to avoid getting burn by the splattering oil when you add the seasoned meat. This is all about timing…  if the sugar is “burned” it will give it a bit of a bitter taste. What you’re looking for is small bubbles, which will then start going a bit frothy and go from light to golden/dark brown (see pics below). As soon as you see this happens (refer to pic) start adding the seasoned chicken a few pieces at a time. Remember to stir constantly to ensure all the pieces gets coated evenly.

how to stew chicken

trini stew chicken recipe

cooking stew chicken

the ultimate stew chicken recipe

After you’ve added all the seasoned meat to the pot, turn down the heat to medium/low, cover and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes. You’ll notice that it will spring some of it’s own natural juices. While this cooks, add the 1 1/2 cups of water to the bowl you had the chicken marinating in. Swish it around to pick up any of the marinade that may be stuck to the bowl. We’ll be using this shortly. Remember to stir the pot every 5 minutes or so.

After about 15 minutes, remove the lid and turn up the heat as it’s time to cook-off all the liquid in the pot and to give the chicken it’s final “brown” colour. This can take about 5 minutes and it’s important that you stir constantly so it does stick to the bottom of the pot. When all the liquid is gone, add the water we’ve had sitting in the bowl. Stir and cook on medium heat for another 20-25 minutes (depending on how thick your pieces of chicken is).

trinidad recipe for stew chicken

trinidad stew chicken

I like my stew chicken with a bit of gravy to pour over rice, but I hate it being to thin. So if after cooking for 2o minutes I find it a bit too runny, I remove the lid and turn up the heat to get it to the consistency I like (basically you’re reducing the liquid by about 75%). Remember to check for salt at the end, in the event you’d like to add a bit more.

how to cook trinidad stew chicken

trinidad stew chicken recipe

And here it is with some brown rice and the water cress salad I shared with you a few days ago.

trini recipes stew chicken

stew chicken with rice

So there you go, the Ultimate Stew Chicken recipe. Now I’m sure many of you may have your own unique way of preparing this dish, so I’d love for you to share your tips in the comment box below. This serves about 5-6 people as a side dish to rice, macaroni pie, roti, ground provisions, macaroni and cheese and even mashed potatoes. Besides rice, I love my with the prepackaged (white) mac and cheese. Trust me on this one.

happy cooking

chris…

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