jerk chicken
with zingy mango salsa
JAMAICAN JERK
Jerk chicken originated in Jamaica from a blend of Taíno and African culinary traditions in the mid-17th century. The indigenous Taíno people developed the barbacoa slow-cooking method, which was adapted by Maroons—escaped African slaves—who added African spices and techniques to create the dish. The word "jerk" likely comes from the Spanish charqui (dried meat) or the act of "jerking" meat to marinate it. It's characterized by slow-cooking over indirect heat, often pimento wood, resulting in a distinctive smoky, spicy flavor from ingredients like allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers.British invasion of Jamaica, Spanish slaves fled into the mountains, forming communities with the surviving Taíno people. These Maroons blended their own African cooking methods and spices with the Taíno techniques to create what is now known as jerk.
The specially designed recipe below provides a generous dose of vitamin B12 in the mackerel, plus supportive nutrients to aid with its absorption, thanks to the chickpeas.
the recipe
jerk chicken with zingy mango salsa
INGREDIENTS
6-8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
3 spring onions, ends trimmed but stalks retained
1 white onion, peeled and quartered
handful of fresh thyme, ideally from a plant (woody stalks removed if not)
1 scotch bonnet chilli, halved, seeds removed if less heat is preferred
1.5 flat tsp (about 4g) allspice powder (grind allspice berries if you have a spice grinder)
25g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly sliced.
25g fresh garlic (about 6-8 cloves), peeled
25g Extra virgin olive oil
40g raw, runny honey
15g rice vinegar (or ACV if easier to find)
15g tamari
25g freshly squeezed orange juice
juice of 1 lime (2 if very small)
coriander, chopped
Lime wedges and finely chopped coriander to serve
1 ripe mango, peeled and diced (dice pre-prepared mango chunks if whole mangos aren’t ripe)
¼ red onion or 1 shallot, peeled and finely diced
handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped
1 medium green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
¼ red bell pepper, diced
The juice of 1 lime
1 tsp ACV
METHOD
Marinade the chicken:
Ideally this will be done the day before.
Combine all the marinade ingredients (everything except for the chicken thighs) in a powerful blender or smoothie maker and blitz until completely smooth.
Check each chicken thigh in turn for any small pieces of cartilage that sometimes get left behind when they’re deboned. I trim any obvious lumps of fat, but that’s down to personal preference.
Place the thighs in a glass or ceramic dish (not in a plastic bag). Pour over the jerk marinade and massage into the meat, ensuring that each piece is completely covered. Use gloves or utensils if you’re worried about the oils from the chilli causing a burning sensation on your skin.
Cover and refrigerate overnight or for as long as possible prior to cooking.
Make the salsa:
Prepare the ingredients as described above, add them to a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Wait a few minutes before tasting and adjusting the flavour. If the mango lacks acidity a touch more lime or ACV may be required. If it lacks sweetness, add raw honey, one flat tsp at a time.
Cover and refrigerate until the chicken is cooked.
Grill the chicken:
Prepare or preheat a grill - coals are ideal, a gas bbq works very well and an electric oven grill will suffice at a push. You can use an air fryer, but it suffers from a real estate issue - there isn’t enough room to cook all (or even half in most units) the chicken at one time.
Place the thighs on the cooking grate with the inside of each thigh facing down. Cook for a few minutes on that first side before turning to cook the outer side. Again, leave them for a few minutes, so that they have a chance to form a crust before turning. This helps to prevent them tearing when turned.
From that point on, turn them regularly. They will take around 15 minutes on average, but it will depend on the heat of the grill.
Once they touch 75°C internal they can come off and rest in a dish. They do not need to rest on a rack like steak does. Rest them for at least 10-15 minutes.
Plate:
Place a bowl of the salsa in the centre of a serving dish, arranging the thighs around the outside. Add lime wedges and scatter finely chopped coriander over the top.
TOP TIP
Remove bones from the mackerel by running a finger down the centre of the flesh side, from head end to tail, and removing them with tweezers. It’s much easier to do this when the fish is cooked.
CLICK TO WATCH
Watch our video of the recipe being made, along with some extra tips and information
Notes & advice
This recipe works with any cut of chicken, but these skinless, boneless thighs are quick, easy to work with and tasty. Breast is also excellent and can be cubed and cooked on skewers, butterflied and grilled or left as a whole breast.
Be aware that a thicker breast will take longer to cook and so require a lower heat in order to avoid burning the marinade on the outside.
Scotch bonnet chillies are unpredictable: They can be extremely hot or slightly underwhelming. Rather than trying to find ways to adjust for this, I suggest that we enjoy the ‘Russian Roulette’. We can always add more spice on the plate if we really feel the need.
If you don’t like hot food, this dish is not for you. Please don’t make a mild version. On that note, this jerk chicken is perfect for kids: They often don’t like very spicy food, which means that there will be more for us.
It should be easy enough to find tamari, or even better the Clearspring Yaemon Tamari (which is a double concentrate version). If not, you can use soy sauce, but be aware that it contains more sodium than tamari - you may need to leave the salt out of the marinade recipe, or reduce it.
The three most important ingredients of a jerk marinade are scotch bonnet chillies, fresh thyme and allspice (Pimento). Ideally we would grind the dried allspice berries (available at the supermarket) rather than buying the powder.
Every other ingredient can, to some extent, be left out or substituted. We need a little sweetness, a little acidity and a touch of oil to bind it all together. If you don’t have an orange, try a lemon and add a touch of extra honey or a teaspoon of sugar. If you don’t have rice vinegar, use ACV and so on. Sometimes it will work out, sometimes it won’t and that’s half the fun of cooking real food.
The mango salsa really adds something to this dish. Skip it at your peril.