BBQ Chicken Baps- Serves 6

 

I first had BBQ chicken thighs almost 20 years ago at the cowboy western section of Disney Land Paris, on a warm sunny day in an outdoor sitting area. Prior to this I only had American BBQ flavouring in the form of wings and crisps. I find it funny how even at the age of 10 most of what I remember is the food hehe.

Many recipes of this sort require you to first cook the chicken or pork and then shred it into the BBQ sauce. My version however consists of deboning the chicken. You can even leave the skin on (if this does not bother you, more flavour after all). We like ours in a crusty role, though you could serve it with rice, chips, or wedges ( or in our case a combination). In any case, I think, it needs coleslaw to balance the sweet rich flavours of the BBQ sauce.  I heard some people have it with pickles have yet to try that.

I also have also recently found a particular brand of BBQ sauce that I really really like it’s- Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey bbq sauce ‘not overly sweet, or has any intrusive strong undertones like chillies, garlic, or molasses , other than a little smokiness, and the  flavour of the honey. For me it’s on par with the Jack Daniels brand. I am not a fan of the Heinz brand as I can taste a strong molasses flavour.

 

Ingredients

 

1 kg Chicken thighs either with or without skin; deboned.

375ml BBQ sauce of your choice (1.5 US cups)- I recommend the Sweet Baby Rays Brand

Coleslaw

Crusty rolls

1 Onion Medium Onion Chopped

 

Chicken marinade:

1 tsp of dry mustard, or 1 tsp of standard mustard (i.e. the ones you get out of the jar)  

1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika or Regular Paprika

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp of salt

2 tablespoons of brown sugar (so the chicken will have caramelisation as well as a richer flavour)

1 tablespoon of chilli powder

1 tsp of garlic powder or granules

1 tsp. of onion powder or powder

 

Equipment

32 cm frying pan

Spatula

Measuring Jug/ Measuring cup

 

Method

 

1. Marinade your chicken in the chicken marinade ingredients. I highly recommend massaging the pieces with your hands to really get the seasoning incorporated. Leave to marinade for an hour.

 

2. Now it’s time to cook up your chicken- preheat the frying pan, over a medium heat, placing chicken in, in batches ( see step 3); there needs to be a least a cm space between each piece and the side that’s facing down onto the pan, should be touching the pan entirely; to ensure maximum colour and flavour.

 

3. Allow each batch of chicken to cook for at least 7 minutes in total flipping the chicken over after every minute of so, to ensure the chicken does not turn into charcoal. Some charring is great just not too much. Between each batch, place the cooked batch onto a plate to rest.

 

4. After all batches have been cooked, it’s time to cook the chopped onion. At this stage turn off the heat and then place onions in (doing so will allow the hot pan to cool down a little, preventing the onions from browning too quickly), allowing it to cook in some of that fat left over from the frying pan, for at least a minute or two. Then turn the heat back on to low and cook for 7 to 10 minutes.

 

5.  Next place in all of the sauce, followed by all the chicken ensure, each piece is coated in the sauce. Allow chicken to shimmer in the sauce for just 5 minutes on a low heat.

 

6.  Serve topped with coleslaw in crusty rolls, or serve with rice, chips or wedges, with coleslaw on the side.