Brown Stew Chicken
Brown stew chicken is not only a well kept tradition in Jamaica but also is a traditional recipe in most of the West Indies. It is usually served with a side of rice and peas, or white rice.
While there are many ways to do this (some even involving the use of ketchup, ugh!), I’ve settled with a conservative approach, that was nonetheless delicious.
Ingredients
- Half a chicken or two large chicken legs
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 4 tablespoons Browning Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Caribbean Pepper Sauce (sweet habanero hotsauce)
- 2 scallions chopped
- 1 thumb of ginger grated
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- ½ green pepper
- ½ red pepper
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ cup cornflour for thickening
- Salt to taste
Below you will find the recipe for the Caribbean chili pepper sauce and browning sauce I used.
Browning sauce (makes 3 cups)
- 1 ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon ground clove
- 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground allspice pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
To prepare the browning sauce add all ingredients to a medium saucepan, stir until combined. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low, continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. It will keep for several weeks if kept cool and away from sunlight.
Caribbean pepper sauce ( makes 2 cups )
- 3 Habanero peppers (remove stem, leave veins for extra heat)
- ½ onion
- 1 medium carrot
- 2 cups fresh mango and / or pineapple
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 2 limes, juiced
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- Salt to taste.
Blend the habanero peppers, onion, carrot, mango and or pineapple, garlic, cumin, lime juice, vinegar and salt in a blender. Add to a clean jar and keep it refrigerated, it will last for up to 3 weeks.
Stew Preparation
To prepare the marinade you will have to chop up all your vegetables, cut the garlic, onions, tomato and ginger very small, and the rest to bite sized pieces.
Remove the chicken skin and in a large bowl mix the Caribbean pepper sauce, and only 2 tablespoons of the browning sauce and some salt. Add the chopped vegetables, the sauce mix and your chicken. Rub it all together and let it sit overnight.
The real secret of this recipe is getting the browning sauce right, take all night if you have to. But a quality browning sauce is what will make this dish unique.
When you are ready to make the stew, set a heavy pan to heat up the cooking oil and clean the chicken, saving the marinade for later. Add the chicken and fry it until sealed.
When the chicken seals add the marinade juice, but leave all the solids out. make sure you turn the chicken so it seals on all sides. This is where you brown the chicken, so leave it there until it is the tone of brown you want adding extra browning sauce when needed. (An extra tip is to add some more sugar instead of browning sauce, but this will result in extra sweet stew.)
Next add 2 more cups of water and the rest of the marinade (the remaining vegetables) and cook at low heat until it all boils again.
Separate about half a cup of broth and mix with the corn flour to achieve a paste. Then return the paste to the stew and stir. Let it boil once more and you are ready to serve.
This stew will feed 4 strew lovers.