Brown stew chicken
Brown stew chicken is a delicious Jamaican chicken stew made from a whole chicken. It's incredibly warming and comforting, with a rich, glossy gravy spiced with thyme, pimento and all-purpose seasoning. It's the perfect dish to have with rice and peas.
This recipe is taken from Motherland by Melissa Thompson (Bloomsbury Publishing, £26) Photography by Patricia Niven.
Melissa says: "A classic recipe across the Caribbean, especially in Jamaica. It gets its name and colour from the browning, a mix of browned sugar and vegetable stock. This dish means comfort to me and it’s a meal I always come back to."
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Savoury browning
- 400ml of vegetable stock
- 50g of soft light brown sugar
- 100ml of water
Brown stew chicken
- 1.5kg chicken, whole
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large onion, finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 5cm of ginger, finely grated
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 1 tbsp of ground pimento
- 1 tbsp of all-purpose seasoning
- 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 300ml of water
- 2 tbsp of light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp of light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup
- 1 Scotch bonnet chilli
Method
Reduce the vegetable stock in a saucepan to around 100ml, which will take about 30 minutes over a medium-high heat
- 400ml of vegetable stock
At the same time, heat the sugar in a non-stick pan over a medium-high heat until it starts to liquefy (4–6 minutes). Watch it to make sure it doesn’t catch and burn
- 50g of soft light brown sugar
Reduce the heat to medium-low, stirring regularly, and once the sugar has fully melted (10–15 minutes), stir continuously until it turns a luxurious dark brown and smells of intense caramel
Add 100ml water bit by bit, stirring furiously as you go. The sugar might clump up if the water is too cool, but keep it on the heat and keep stirring and the lumps will dissolve
- 100ml of water
Once all the water has been incorporated, transfer to a sterilised jar. It will keep for 6 months
Cut the chicken into small pieces: separate the drumsticks and thighs and cut both in half using a cleaver. Divide each breast, on the bone, into 3-4 pieces. Separate the wings into the drum and flat
- 1.5kg chicken, whole
Remove the skin from every piece apart from the wings and freeze it, along with the wing tips and backbone, for stock
Mix the chicken pieces in a bowl with the salt, pepper, onion, garlic, ginger, thyme, pimento, all-purpose seasoning, spring onions and 1 tbsp savoury browning. Leave to marinate for at least 4 hours in the fridge, ideally overnight
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large onion, finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 5cm of ginger, finely grated
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 1 tbsp of ground pimento
- 1 tbsp of all-purpose seasoning
- 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
Put the oil in a Dutch pot or heavy-based pan. Scrape as much of the marinade off the chicken pieces back into the bowl as you can (reserve this) and brown the chicken on all sides, in batches if needed, so as not to overcrowd the pan
- 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
Remove the chicken to a plate and scrape the marinade into the same pan. Cook for 10 minutes over a medium-high heat until the onion starts to colour, then add the red pepper. Mix well and return the chicken to the pan with the measured water and all the remaining ingredients. Include the Scotch bonnet whole for flavour, or finely chop 1/4-1/2 of it for heat
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 300ml of water
- 2 tbsp of light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp of light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup
- 1 Scotch bonnet chilli
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer
Cook for 25 minutes until the sauce is thick, dark and glossy and the chicken is cooked through. Pick out the thyme sprigs, if you want, and the whole Scotch bonnet, if using
Serve with Rice & Peas.
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