9.22.2006
Bourbon Chicken
One of John's favorite mall food dishes is Bourbon Chicken. Usually, you find this at stalls with "Cajun" in the name, but it's often among dishes that look more Chinese than anything you'd find in New Orleans.
I tried to make this one other time last summer with less than stellar results. The sauce was too weird and didn't taste like the mall version. There are a zillion versions of this recipe out on the innernetz. Some contain no bourbon while others call for a whole cup. I decided to compromise and picked the recipe using half a cup of bourbon.
Cooking methods also differ in my recipe research. While most bake the chicken and cut it up after cooked, some have you cut up the chicken first (like the first recipe I used). Very few call for grilling the chicken, which I think they do at the mall. Maybe not "grilled" on a charcoal or gas grill, but maybe on one of those big kitchen flatiron grills. Or is it a griddle?
I bought boneless, skinless chicken thighs and trimmed them of their fat. The marinade was mixed up with the following:
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs minced, dried onion
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup bourbon
I also added a few dashes of cayenne pepper. The chicken thighs were marinated overnight.
The following day, I took the chicken out of the marinade and grilled them. I didn't throw out the marinade. Instead, I put it in a small pot, brought it to a boil and let it simmer while the chicken cooked. I added a couple teaspoons of ketchup to the sauce, as it needed a little something and I just started bojangling it.
After the chicken was cooked, I cut it up into bite size pieces and added it to the sauce and served it with rice on the side:
I tried to make this one other time last summer with less than stellar results. The sauce was too weird and didn't taste like the mall version. There are a zillion versions of this recipe out on the innernetz. Some contain no bourbon while others call for a whole cup. I decided to compromise and picked the recipe using half a cup of bourbon.
Cooking methods also differ in my recipe research. While most bake the chicken and cut it up after cooked, some have you cut up the chicken first (like the first recipe I used). Very few call for grilling the chicken, which I think they do at the mall. Maybe not "grilled" on a charcoal or gas grill, but maybe on one of those big kitchen flatiron grills. Or is it a griddle?
I bought boneless, skinless chicken thighs and trimmed them of their fat. The marinade was mixed up with the following:
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs minced, dried onion
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup bourbon
I also added a few dashes of cayenne pepper. The chicken thighs were marinated overnight.
The following day, I took the chicken out of the marinade and grilled them. I didn't throw out the marinade. Instead, I put it in a small pot, brought it to a boil and let it simmer while the chicken cooked. I added a couple teaspoons of ketchup to the sauce, as it needed a little something and I just started bojangling it.
After the chicken was cooked, I cut it up into bite size pieces and added it to the sauce and served it with rice on the side:
This wasn't bad, but wasn't exactly like the mall version. I'm considering taking a part time job at one of those Bourbon Chicken stalls just to learn their secret recipe. It's probably something from a jar or a powder you mix up with water!!!
Modifications for next time:
The flavor of bourbon (Jim Beam) was very strong. I think I might cut that down to 2 tablespoons. Mall chicken seems like it has no alcohol, just sugar. I liked the addition of the ketchup too. One of the recipes had a whole cup of it... I think my little bit was enough to give the sauce more body.
And although John loves spicy food, I will probably leave out the cayenne next time too. Just to see...
# posted by Jal J : 9:26 AM
