Trinidadian stew chicken is quite unique from stews around the world. There are many variations, but in my simple recipe, pieces of chicken are first browned in a modest amount of "burnt" sugar and the flavor is enhanced with fresh herbs, garlic, tomato, a touch of ginger and pimento, habanero or other hot pepper.
Stew chicken is one of my favorite chicken recipes. I always say, “you know you are a Trini (a Trinidadian) if you don’t know what to cook and you decide to make either stewed chicken or curried chicken”. In minutes you can prepare this mouthwatering stew chicken that's unrivaled in flavor. In my opinion, there is no chicken recipe anywhere that can produce such a complex and satisfying experience with the minimum effort required of this recipe.
Prep: Wash chicken with the juice of one lemon, lime or vinegar and water, rubbing to remove slime, also remove excess skin, fat. Wash a second time with plain water. Drain well. Wash and chop scallions, tomatoes, peel and chop onion, grate ginger and garlic, cut pimento or habanero if using. Alternately, chicken can be seasoned ahead of time with scallion, onion, garlic, tomato(optional), ginger(optional), thyme, pimento pepper, hot pepper-if using, salt and black pepper, ketchup.
In a large pot over medium heat, add oil. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add sugar and allow it to bubble, froth, expand and darken. Do not allow it to smoke and get black. This is the same technique I used with the pelau and stewed lamb.
Add chicken and listen to it sing in the pot! Immediately raise the heat to high and stir continuously to coat with the brown sugar, about 2 minutes.
If chicken was not pre-seasoned, now add scallion, onion, garlic, tomato(optional), ginger(optional), thyme, pimento pepper, hot pepper-if using, salt and black pepper, ketchup and cook 1-2 minutes more while stirring. Also add potatoes and cooked peas now if using.
Cook for 15-20 minutes, covered, over medium high heat (chicken will release it’s juices), stirring occasionally, every 5 minutes, until liquid has evaporated.
After the liquid has evaporated, continue to cook for a few seconds to allow flavours to develop, stirring continuously to prevent sticking.
Add one cup of water, more if you like lots of "sauce". Cover and cook an additional 10-15 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and tender (but not shredding), turning gently once or twice, and the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency.
Taste and add more salt and pepper if required. For this dish, I added a total of two teaspoons Himalayan salt but amounts may vary depending on the type of salt you use.
Serve hot preferably over rice with stewed beans, callaloo or dhal and your favorite salad. If you feel like it add some fried plantains, wash it down with a cold glass of mauby, sorrel or home-made lemonade.
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Notes
Cooking Tips:
When I buy ginger, I wash and cut it into various sizes (1 and 2 inches and some larger), freeze in a resealable bag and use as needed. Grating is effortless when frozen, the ginger never "disintegrates" and I always have a supply to enhance recipes!Buy pre-cut pieces of chicken (whole chicken, thighs, legs or wings) if you are overwhelmed by the thought of “cutting up” a whole chicken.If time is on your side, mince scallion, garlic, hot pepper and thyme in a food processor or blender and marinate the chicken for a few hours or overnight , adding salt and pepper. If the chicken starts to shred while cooking, it's a clear sign that it is overcooked. I know from experience that chicken bought in NY is more tender, releases "lots" of water (when that happens I don't add additional water) and cooks quicker than chicken from Trinidad, so cooks in Trinidad may have to add additional water and increase the cooking time.