I asked my mom yesterday afternoon to buy some chicken feet since its been a while since I ate this wonderful dish. Then she asked me, what’s going to be tomorrow’s dish. I pause for a while with nothing in mind. She said, she’ll be buy a whole chicken then roast it tomorrow. I frowned because I’m getting sicked with roast chicken but still I have nothing in mind. Then, an idea pop out, chicken inasal.
It’s been months since I ate chicken inasal in a restaurant and years since I cooked this dish. So, I decided to make chicken inasal the Kusina ni Teds way.
Chicken inasal is basically grilled chicken. It is not your typical chicken barbecue marinated in soy sauce. Its marinade is a mixture of vinegar, garlic, ginger and lemongrass then grilled over live charcoal and brushed with achuete oil as basting.
This is my version of chicken inasal. I know some of my ingredients are not in authentic chicken inasal recipe but I found some ingredients will really goes well with this tangy savory dish. My method is somewhat different since I want my chicken to have a deep lemongrass flavor but i don’t want my chicken to be cook in vinegar so decided to marinate first the chicken in brine solution with some spices and lemongrass in it. Then, I made a herbs and spices infused vinegar and pour it over onto the chicken the following day and marinate the chicken for another 3 hours. I also added some flavors into my basting oil, so instead of the ordinary achuete oil, I infused some rosemary and garlic into it.
Ingredients
2 cups Water
4 stalks Lemongrass, chopped
1 Tablespoon Dried Rosemary
2 Tablespoons Salt
4 cloves Garlic, crushed
2 cups Water
4 pieces Chicken, leg part
1 cup White Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Salt
6 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 piece Onion, chopped
2 thumb-sized Ginger
1 Tablespoon Dried Rosemary
1 Tablespoon Whole Peppercorn
1 pieces Juice of calamansi
1 teaspoon Sugar
Achuete Oil
2 Tablespoons Achuete Powder
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons Dried Rosemary
1 cup Cooking oil
Vinegar Dipping
1/2 cup White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
1/2 piece Onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
Procedure
In a pot, combine water, lemongrass, rosemary, salt and garlic and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes and steep for additional 30 minutes. Add remaining water and chicken and marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Combine white vinegar, balsamic vinegar, salt, garlic, onion, ginger, rosemary, peppercorn, calamansi and sugar. Mix and let the herbs and spices infuse overnight.
Drain chicken from the water mixture marinade. Marinate the chicken into the vinegar marinate for at least 3 to 4 hours before grilling. Grill chicken over live charcoal and baste with achuete oil from time to time.
For the achuete oil, in a bowl, combine achuete powder, garlic and rosemary. Heat cooking oil until smoking hot and pour over the dry mixture. Use this as your basting agent in your chicken inasal.
For the dipping sauce, combine white vinegar, balsamic vinegar, salt, garlic, onion and sugar.
