(BBQ’d chicken Peruvian style—literally:  chicken to the coals)

If you have a rotisserie, this dish is something you will want to make to regularly exercise that tool.  If you do not have a rotisserie, it still is pretty darn amazing on the grill or in the oven.  This marinated chicken dish, served with a spicy green sauce, is sort of a big deal in Peru.  Despite being created by a Swiss ex-pat in the 1950’s, pollo a la brasa has become somewhat of a national dish with even its own national holiday on July 21.

Chickenomics:  (If knowing where your food comes from grosses you out, you might want to skip this part.)  We were looking for a worthy recipe to use in cooking our first home raised chicken of the year.  This rooster had a lovely, free-range lifestyle and delivered a 74% carcass yield at 9 weeks, weighing in at 3 lbs/14 oz dressed out.   

This is a 2 day project.  On day 1, you will marinate the chicken.  Day 2 is roasting and sauce prep.

CHICKEN

Marinade

• 3T olive oil
• 3T lime juice
• 4 (or more) cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 T siracha (if  you can find aji amarillo paste, use that)
• 1 T chile powder
• 2 t ground cumin
• 2 t smoked paprika
• 1 t Mexican oregano
• 1 ½ t salt
• ½ t pepper
• 2 T honey

Rub the marinade over the chicken and in the cavity and between the skin on the breast and thighs.  Put in a bag and let rest in fridge overnight.  If you are doing an oven roast or BBQ grill, you may want to consider spatchcocking it prior to rubbing/marinating it.

To cook:

• 365-375F for 50-60 minutes.  (Note, I see other recipes recommending 400F.  I think a lot depends on you oven.)
• If using a rotisserie, truss and prepare the bird on the spit.
• If using an oven or grill, it may be helpful to spatchcock it (remove backbone to make it flatter).
• I used my Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer rotisserie on the roast mode at 365F for 45 minutes.
• You should be checking the temperature in the breast and thigh near the end of the cooking (40 minute mark).  The goal is to have 165 F ultimately, so you can actually stop cooking at 160F to allow carry-over cooking to happen.
• Do not be alarmed if the chicken appears darkly roasted.  The char is from the honey in the marinade.  Your bird will not be burned. That charred brown/black is the holy grail of this dish.
• It is critical to let the bird rest for 15-20 minutes after cooking to allow the juices to collect and to allow carry-over cooking.

The chicken does not need to be served piping hot.  In fact, just warm might even be better.  P.S. this makes a great picnic lunch.  Serve with the Chile Verde Sauce below.

SAUCE (Chile Verde Sauce—spicy green sauce)

Authentic sauce includes some aji chile paste.  If you can find that, add 2 T.

Combine everything in a blender and go to town.

• 1 C mayonnaise
• 3 T lime juice
• 2 spicy peppers (jalapeno, serrano, habanero, Fresno)—you decide how spicy you want it
• 2 C cilantro
• 4 cloves of garlic
• ½ C grated parmesan or crumbled cotija cheese
• 3 green onions (chunk them up to help them blend)
• 3-4 T olive oil
• 5 mint leaves
• ½ t salt (or more to taste)

Serve the sauce on the side and over the chicken.  Honestly, this is so good, you’ll want to put it on everything.

SIDES

Considering this is a Peruvian dish, one needs to add some sort of potato.  We also served this with a quick cucumber pickle and some watermelon.  The watermelon was a surprisingly good complement to the spicy chicken.

Stay briny,

–Stacey