Flavour infused and juicy on the inside. Deep red and crispy on the outside. AND garlicky buttery rice. For just 10 minutes of active effort? Yes please!
I know I shared a baked chicken recipe last week but this is so good, I didn’t have the patience to wait longer!
I saw Peruvian rotisserie chicken being made on a cooking show once and unsurprisingly, it was added to my ever growing list of “things to make”.
Do you keep a list of “things to make”? I actually have 4 5 lists. “Make for blog”, “Clients” (being recipes I create and shoot for clients), “Meals” (being my normal meals), “Ideas” (that list where 95% of the things on it never get made) and “ABSOLUTELY MUST TRY”.
This chicken made the “ABSOLUTELY MUST TRY” list instantly. Straight to the top of the queue! As soon as I saw the recipe, I knew it was my type of food. Easy to make, every day ingredients and kapow! flavours.
I’ve never been to Peru, but from the research I’ve done, this chicken is known as Pollo la Brasa (Peruvian Blackened Chicken) and is by far the most popular chicken dish in Peru.
Traditionally, this is made like a rotisserie chicken over charcoals. So this version I’m sharing doesn’t have that lovely smokey flavour but there’s certainly plenty of flavour from the marinade to make up for it!
Soy sauce is a surprising ingredient in the marinade for this recipe. I was very interested to read about Chinese and Japanese influence on Peruvian cuisine owing to waves of immigration starting in the 1900’s. I love that Peruvians embraced the new ingredients the early immigrants introduced, like soy sauce.
I decided to serve this with a buttery garlic rice. Not sure if it’s strictly Peruvian, but honestly, it goes with it so well and is so delicious that you can eat it plain. Seriously!
I must have read 20+ recipes for Peruvian Roast chicken. And unsurprisingly, every single recipe is different! As with every traditional dish, there is no single recipe. The key ingredients that are common across all recipes are soy sauce, garlic, paprika, cumin and something to add tag (lime or vinegar).
So I made my own guided by those recipes I read – I’ve referenced a few in the recipe. The marinade is actually very straight forward and it’s a matter of just getting the proportions right to suit your palette. I like strong flavours so the marinade for mine is probably stronger than other recipes. I also up the flavour a bit to compensate for the absence of the charcoal flavour.
Hope you consider trying this!! – Nagi x
PS I roasted this in the oven to get the beautiful even browning on the skin you can see in the photos but it’s also really delicious cooked on the BBQ or even on the stove.
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Peruvian Chicken with Garlic Butter Rice
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb (1.2 kg) chicken pieces (Note 1)
Marinade
- 1 tbsp garlic powder OR 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp paprika powder (preferably smoked but plain is ok)
- 4 tbsp soy sauce (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp lime juice , fresh (1 lime)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Garlic Butter Rice
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 onion , finely diced (white, brown, yellow)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups long grain rice , uncooked
- 2 cups chicken broth / stock
- 1 cup water
- 2 - 4 tbsp butter (Note 3)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Place the Marinade ingredients in a small bowl and mix until lump free.
- Place the chicken in a ziplock bag (my preferred method) or non reactive bowl and coat with Marinade. Marinade for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight (24 hours) OR freeze it straight away, then it will marinade while it defrosts.
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Place chicken in a baking dish, skin side up. Slather leftover marinade onto the skin. Roast for 45 minutes or until deep burnt-red golden brown in colour.
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving with Garlic Butter Rice and a green salad.
Garlic Butter Rice
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for 5 minutes until onion is translucent and sweet.
- Add rice and stir so the rice becomes translucent. Add broth and water, then cover and turn heat down to medium low.
- Cook for 12 to 15 minutes until the liquid has JUST evaporated, then remove from stove and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- After resting, add the butter and stir the rice to fluff it up and disperse the butter.
Recipe Notes:
- Peruvian Roasted Chicken with Yellow Potatoes - Pollo a la Brasa
- Peruvian Grilled Chicken
- The Food Lab: Peruvian-Style Whole Grilled Chicken 6. Nutrition for chicken assuming 5 servings. This does not take into account the fat that renders out during roasting that remains in the pan so the actual calories will be considerably less. I estimate it is between 60 and 100 calories less, assuming you don't drink the pan juices!
Nutrition per serving for the rice, assuming 6 servings (that's quite generous servings!).
Nutrition Information:
Looks really yummy – and I just so happen to have a load of chicken thighs in my fridge that I was planning on roasting tonight! Wonder if smoked paprika or a dash of liquid smoke would up the ante in the absence of charcoal? I’ll give it a whirl. Thanks again Nagi!
Hi Rochelle! It sure would add extra flavour! Thanks for the tip, I will add it to the recipe!
You can never have too many chicken recipes, or post them too often. I honestly make baked chicken at least once or twice a year, especially now in the winter. Love the flavors in this chicken, it’s going on my list to make. Funny, I also have a long list with recipes to make for the blog. LOL
Once or twice a YEAR?? 😉 N x
A week!!!!!
What a lovely recipe, Nagi! Simple and full of flavour, just the way I like my meals. We like to make a simple chicken dish at least once a week. I think this one’s got to go on the ‘to make’ list (yes, I have several of those too – I usually scribble them on scraps of paper though and lose them, so most of my ideas never get made, either 😉
Love the idea of the garlic butter rice!
Thanks so much Helen! Simple with big flavours, the BEST!!! 🙂
I just got a big, beautiful Peru cookbook, and it does not seem to have a recipe like this in it. You would probably enjoy Peru. We’ve been to Lima a couple of times (as part of a cruise), and one of the things we did was an excursion that was a cooking class and visit to a market. The food was wonderful, and the huge market in Callao (the port city for Lima) had the most amazing produce I’ve ever seen. I’d move to Callao just to be a be able to shop at that market. It would also be required to make many of the recipes in my cookbook, because they use a lot of ingredients that aren’t found anywhere else. You also see Chinese restaurants everywhere in Lima. You’ll just have to visit Peru…
You’re so well travelled Susan!! I’m surprised the cookbook doesn’t have Blackened Chicken in it, I read it was the most popular chicken in Peru!!! I think Peru’s just been added to my list of “must visit soon” 🙂 N x PS I adore that you do cooking classes when you travel
Nagi, I do that all the time. I watch cooking shows while I exercise. I then recreate the recipe guessing what they used and how much spice. It is so fun isn’t it?
I love the color of the chicken and the flavors you brought in. Quick and tasty. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
You watch cooking shows while you exercise? BA HA HA!!! I LOVE IT!!!
Oven baked chicken!!! You knew I would be on that bandwagon with you 🙂
Can’t wait to try this. I’m going to tell my boys that it comes from the same place as Paddington! That will be enough to get them to finish their plates!!
But with garlic rice….Mr 5 will be asking for seconds 🙂
Yum!!
Of course!!! You’re the potato and baked chicken queen. 🙂 Am I allowed to share your sticky soy chicken soon??
I was just thinking about that the other day. Will send you an email 🙂