Filipino Inasal chicken recipe is a perfect combination of spicy, peppery and citrus-flavored chicken legs. It’s traditionally charcoal grilled and marinated until tender perfection.
The chicken can be served with steamed rice and a salty soy vinegar dipping sauce. It also tastes great with Filipino pickles. This Filipino barbecue recipe is easy to prepare for your next boodle fight.
Background
The traditional Visayan dish of Bacolod, Philippines, is also called “char-grilled chicken” (or “roasted chicken”) and is often sold on street carts. It’s similar to chicken Adobo and you can find it at large chain restaurants in the Philippines like Mang Inasal or Grillcity.
Chicken inasal has a few distinctive features. It contains traditional ingredients such as calamansi (small, bitter citrus), coconut vinegar(less acidic but more sweet vinegar) and achiote oils (an oil made with the peppery annatto seed of an achiote tree).
This recipe calls for limes to replace the calamansi, and cane sugar vinegar to make coconut vinegar. The coconut vinegar is slightly sweeter that cane sugar vinegar so I added light brown sugar to my marinade.
Annatto/achiote oil
Achiote oil is a key ingredient in chicken inasal. This oil gives the chicken its slightly reddish color. This oil is made of super-red annatto seed from the achiote tree. They are peppery with some heat. You can buy annatto oil at your local grocery store. However, you can also find annatto seed in the international aisle to make your own oil.
The oil can be made in a few minutes. You just need to simmer the oil and then add the annatto seeds, and any other spices. It’s almost the same process as making the annatto oils for Vietnamese Bun Bo Hue. It can also be used in powdered form to color food, such as pork tocino.
For extra flavor, I used lots of garlic and minced lemongrass. This recipe makes enough marinade for chicken and sauce for basting.
Noting that annatto seed oil is often used to color food (saffron, paprika), it’s important to remember to use caution when making the oil.
Marinade for chicken
Chicken inasal is traditionally a different part of the chicken. If you were raised in an immigrant household, you will know that there are no leftovers of any chicken or any other meat. Because bone-in chicken pieces are less tender and more juicy, I prefer whole chicken legs. These pieces can also be pre-cut at Seafood City, a local Filipino grocery.
This marinade is easy to make. Simply combine the chicken legs with the achiote oil and vinegar, lime juice light brown sugar, garlic, lemongrass and salt in a bowl. To get the best moist and juicy chicken, I recommend marinating it overnight. To ensure even cooking, make sure to take the chicken out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before grilling.
How to grill chicken
Although charcoal grilling is very common in the Philippines I chose to use my gas grill. You can use charcoal, but these are the instructions for cooking your chicken. Pre-heat your grill. While you wait, prepare your basting sauce.
I have grilled chicken before and it can sometimes be difficult to avoid burnt skin. I learned some tricks along the way from my mistakes.
- It will take between 30-40 minutes to cook the chicken. You should remove each piece when the deepest part registers 160 degrees F with an instant read thermometer. This will allow us to sear it later.
- For five minutes, heat your grill to medium and then remove any leftover cooking from your grill.
- The chicken should be placed skin-side up on a low heat grill. Keep the lid closed and only open it to check the temperature. The internal temperature of your grill should be between 300-325 degrees F. I found that my grill was too hot when it had three flames on low. So, I turned one of the burners off and left two on low.
- To maintain a moist outer layer, baste the chicken once every 10 minutes.
- If your chicken seems to be burning, you can move them to the top rack, if you have one, or to a section on the grill with the lowest heat or without the flame.
- After the chicken has been removed from the grill, turn the flames up to medium and cook for 3 minutes. Close the grill. Then, sear each piece skin-side down to brown the meat.
A side of steaming rice ( garlic-rice if you want to be fancy) and a dipping dressing made from half soy sauce, half vinegar and some lime juice is the best way to serve chicken inasal. This menu is great for parties! I recommend adding Filipino bbq pork chop skewers to the mix along with some atchara (Filipino pickles).
Other grilling options include whole grilled fish and grilled corn wrapped in foil. Grilled clams and Japaneseyakitori are also available.
What does it mean to be inasal?
Tagalog’s Inasal means “char-grilled” (or “roasted meat”)
Are annatto, paprika and the same thing?
Annatto seeds are made from the achiote plants and have a peppery, earthy taste. Paprika is made of ground chili peppers. It has a smoked, spicy flavor. Both are reddish in color but have distinct flavor profiles.
Chicken Inasal Recipe (Filipino Marinated, Grilled Chicken)
Equipment
- Grill (gas or charcoal)
Ingredients
ACHIOTE OIL
- ½ tbsp garlic minced
- ½ c vegetable oil
- ½ tbsp annatto seeds
- ¼ tsp lemongrass minced
- 1 bay leaf
MARINADE
- 3 ½ lb (1.6 kg) chicken legs or thighs or drumsticks
- ¼ c achiote oil
- 1 tbsp lemongrass minced
- 1 tbsp ginger grated
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp lime juice or calamansi juice
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cane sugar vinegar
- ½ tsp (1 g) pepper
BASTING SAUCE
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 ½ tbsp achiote oil
- ¼ tsp salt▢ ½ tbsp light brown sugar
- ½ tsp lime juice
DIPPING SAUCE, OPTIONAL
- 2 tbsp cane sugar vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice or calamansi juice
Instructions
ACHIOTE OIL
- Place the vegetable oil, minced garlic and minced lemongrass in a saucepan on medium heat. Allow them to simmer gently for about one minute, until they start to turn a light brown color around the edges.
- Add the annatto seed and bay leaf. Continue to cook for one minute more or until the seeds are bubbly. Allow the pan to cool on the heat for about an hour.
- Strain the oil, and then transfer it into a glass container such as a mason-jar.
MARINADE
- Use paper towels to dry the chicken. Combine the lemongrass oil, lemongrass ginger, garlic light brown sugar, vinegar, salt and salt in a glass container. Stir the mixture until all of the sugar has been dissolved.
- Place the chicken in the container. Toss the chicken in the container. Place the chicken in a container with an airtight cover and let it marinate for at least one night. To ensure that the chicken is well coated, I shake it in the container about every five hours. To ensure that the chicken is cooked evenly, remove it from the refrigerator for between 30-60 minutes.
BASTING SAUCE
- Combine butter, achiote, lime juice, salt and sugar in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds, or until butter is completely melted.
- Mix all ingredients together.
GRILLING
- For approximately 5-10 minutes heat your grill to medium heat. After that, clean the grill.
- Grilling chicken legs takes between 30-40 minutes depending on its thickness or the time taken to cook the chicken. You should not leave your chicken directly on the fire.Note: My grill was too hot, with three flames on high. I turned one off and left two burners on low.
- Place the chicken skin-side up on the lowest heat setting. Close the lid. The internal temperature of the grill should be between 300 and 325 degrees F. For searing, you won't turn the chicken until the last minute.
- For basting, only open the lid once every 10 minutes. Ensure that you also test the internal temperature of your chicken and take out any pieces that reach 160 degrees F in the thickest section.
- TIP If your bird is not cooking, either move it to the top rack (if they have one) OR move it to a lower heat section or turn off the flame.
- After the chicken reaches 160 degrees F, remove them from the grill and turn the heat up to medium. The lid should remain closed for three minutes. The lid should be opened. After that, cook each piece of chicken skin-side down for approximately one to two minutes until it turns a nice brown color.
- Take the meat off the grill and let it rest for a while.
- Mix all ingredients and serve immediately with chicken, steamed rice, or garlic Rice.
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