Jamaican Jerk Chicken

[groover]

came across this New York Times article about the greatness of Jamaican jerk chicken. and it got me wondering. Does anyone know of a good Jamaican restaurant in Austin? I really liked Calabash on Manor Rd. before it closed. Hoover's across the street has a decent jerk chicken, but it doesn't compare to what Calabash served. Any other options in town?

NYT on Jerk

 

[jimmyjazz]

Not since Shaggy's closed. But I have a kickass recipe for jerk marinade if you want it . . .

 

[l00p]

yes, thank you. oh, you meant Groover.

I agree about Shaggy's. I loved their key lime pie too. They were not out of this world but they are better than the nothing we have. This is a void that needs to be filled and hopefully will soon. Maybe the El Chile/El Chilito/Stortini crew will find another bldg. on Manor road and go this route.

 

[jimmyjazz]

One key ingredient is the allspice . . . gotta have lots of allspice. Most "recipes" I've seen sadly neglect the allspice. I've seen references to Jamaican thyme and ajicito peppers, neither of which I can find, so there you go. This is a pretty damn close approximation to true jerk flavor:


¾ C Orange Juice
1 whole Scotch Bonnet or habanero pepper
8 whole Garlic cloves
1 C chopped Scallions (green onions)
¾ C freshly ground Allspice
¾ C Brown Sugar
½ C sea salt
¼ C Black Pepper
2 tsp White Pepper
1 tsp Nutmeg

Throw it all in a blender, and let your chicken/beef/pork marinate for at least 4 hours before grilling.

 

[groover]

Shaggy's was greatness. You can still buy jars of their jerk marinade at Whole Foods and probably a couple other places around town. I actually used it on pork and chicken last weekend. WF also carries the Austin Slow Burn jerk marinade, which is good, too. If you're too lazy to make from scratch.

Thanks for the recipe, jimmyjazz. I'll try that next time.

If you liked the Winston's sauce from Calabash, he still sells that stuff around town. And has a booth at the AC hot sauce festival each year. Still potent as the first bottle I stole off the table at Calabash.

 

[jimmyjazz]

By the way, that's a fairly mild jerk recipe. Double the scotch bonnet if you want some more kick.

 

[groover]

double it? hell, i'm gonna quadruple it.

 

[jimmyjazz]

Good luck with that!

 

[VacantlyOccupied]

Just remember what Bourdain said about handling peppers. The number one rule is "don't touch the penis".

 

[l00p]

Peppers have penises? And why would you fondle pepper penis to begin with? Sicko.

 

[groover]

made that mistake once while dicing habaneros for a salsa. won't make that mistake again. wash hands with soap 5 times before taking a piss.

capsaicin is an oil in the pepper. water doesn't wash it off. which is why it doesn't help to drink water or beer when you're mouth is on fire. just spreads the oil and the burn around. only cream (e.g., half and half) will wash it out of your mouth. breaks down the chemical. i hear vodka does the same.

 

[cbs]

jimmyjazz

where do you get the fresh allspice?

 

[jimmyjazz]

Whole Foods. In the bulk section. (Honestly, I don't know how "fresh" it is. I've used the jarred variety with no problems.)

 

[ThrowittoRoy]

This is going to sound ridiculous, but when i read the title, the first thing that came to mind was my favorite flavor of wings at Pluckers: Jamaican Jerk chicken wings.

 

[GakFoo]

billy's on burnet has a version of wings called shaggy's jerk wings

i haven'tr tried them though. their regular spicy wings are pretty damn good so i'd guess the jerk ones would be too