Grilled Chili Sauce Chicken (燒烤鮮辣椒鷄, Siu1 Haau1 Sin1 Laat6 Ziu1 Gai1)

 

This recipe was updated on 28 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This grilled chicken dish is marinated in a chili sauce made by Sichuan Gau Fu Ji Food Company. The chili sauce consists of fresh chopped chilies in oil and spices, and has a fresh chili taste together with a potent kick of heat. This brand is available at your local Asian market, but you can use another prepared chili sauce if you can’t find this brand. Surprisingly much (but certainly not all) of the heat from the chilies are gone after grilling the chicken, but the fresh chili taste remains.

A note on the Cantonese translation for this ingredient, you’ll notice that the translation for the chili sauce is: fresh hot peppers. The first two words are correct, but I wasn’t able to find the translation for the last character, so I substituted the character for peppers. I hope someone can tell me what the last character translates to.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

4 lb.	2 kg.	Chicken thigh (鷄髀, gai1 bei2) or breast meat (雞胸肉, gai1 hung1 juk6) pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
3 Tbs.	45 ml.	Sichuan Gau Fu Ji Food brand Chili Sauce (鮮辣椒, sin1 laat6 ziu1) or equivalent
½ cup	125 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
3 Tbs.	45 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
½ cup	125 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
		Tongs and an oil coated paper towel
22.5 in.	57 cm.	Covered charcoal or gas grill (or larger)

 

Sichuan Gau Fu Ji Food Brand Chili Sauce
(鮮辣椒, sin1 laat6 ziu1)

Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken thigh or breast meat by removing any remaining yellow skin. Ideally all the yellow skin was removed during the vendor’s chicken cleaning process, but some always remains and will prevent the marinade from penetrating the skin. Use your fingers and rub any remaining yellow skin from the chicken under cold running water.
2. Marinate the chicken in a covered container for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, Sichuan Gau Fu Ji Food brand Chili Sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the chicken overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Prepare the charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking following the manufacturer’s instructions. Light the charcoal or preheat the gas grill accordingly. Soak the wood for smoking (oak, hickory, or pecan goes well with this dish) for one hour if desired. I use dry and not soaked wood.
4. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the lighted coals on one half of the grill. The side of the grill with the coals (the “hot” side) will later be used to grill the chicken and the side without the coals (the “cool” side) will be used for smoking the chicken. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for indirect cooking. Clean the grill to remove any leftover charred bits from the last use and with a folded paper towel coated in oil, use tongs to lubricate the grill. Put the smoking wood onto the coals or as per the instructions for the gas grill.
5. Place the chicken, skin side up, on the cool side of the grill and cook for 15 minutes covered. Uncover the grill and turn the chicken over to brown the skin on the hot side of the grill for another 5-6 minutes. Turn the chicken over again and brown the other side for another 5-6 minutes. Remove the chicken from the grill and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before serving. The temperature of your fire and previous experience with your grill will determine the total cooking time for the chicken.