Jerk chicken. What does it mean
Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Jerk seasoning is traditionally applied to pork and chicken. Modern recipes also apply jerk spice mixes to fish, shrimp, shellfish, beef, sausage, lamb, vegetables, and tofu. Jerk seasoning principally relies upon two items: allspice (called “pimento” in Jamaica) and Scotch bonnet peppers. Other ingredients may include cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, brown sugar, ginger, and salt.
These hot nights suit a dish like jerk chicken so well, at boy and bird we do jerk arms and it’s one of my favourite dishes!
Once you make up the jerk seasoning you can coat it onto salmon, prawns, chicken wings, pork shoulder, even things like corn.
Jerk sauce
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 long red chilli, chopped ( if you can find scotch bonnets even better!)
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 small knob ginger, grated
- 2 tsp all spice
- 2 tsp star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 cup dark rum or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 litre orange juice
To make marinate
Heat a medium sauce and add the oil and sauté the chilli, garlic, onion and ginger until the onions are soft.
Followed by the allspice, star anise, cinnamon and fennel seeds.
Turn off the heat and add the rum, brown sugar orange juice. Transfer to a blender or use hand blender and wizz till smooth.
Use this paste to add spunk and set your meals aside from the norm