Table of Contents
- What is Trinidad Stewed Chicken?
- Trinidad Stewed Chicken Origins
- Connection to Culture
- Why ‘Brown’ Chicken?
- How to Brown Chicken
- The right way to make sugar syrup for Trinidad Chicken Stew
- Skin or no skin
- What seasonings are used in Trinidad Chicken Stew
- How to season chicken Trinidad-style
- What to serve with Trinidad Stewed Chicken
- Trinidad Rum Punch
- Other Traditional Trinidad Side Dishes
- Caribbean Hot Sauce
- Recipe: Trinidad Stewed Chicken
- Helpful cooking tips for the perfect Trinidad Stewed chicken
What is Trinidad Stewed Chicken?
Trinidad Stewed Chicken is essentially the taste of Trinidad, a comforting stove-top chicken dish packed with true island flavour and soul.
What’s different and interesting about Trinidad Stewed Chicken is its unique ‘caramelisation’ technique, aka, a browning process done with sugar that gives the chicken a beautiful golden-brown hue as well as tenderise the meat.
Not to forget its most important role, the sugar also aids in creating the famously delicious thick gravy sauce which makes this dish so delectable.
Trinidad Stewed Chicken Origins
To find out the origin of Trinidad Stewed Chicken you need to get the details from a true local. This recipe has been provided by Trinidadian Elena Diaz, a makeup artist now based in London but born and raised in Diego Martin, a city in the North West Penisula of Trinidad (Instagram here).
Elena started making stewed chicken as a child, taught by her father – Not only does the recipe itself hold a special meaning, but her father being the family cook was a big deal at the time when the typical Caribbean male was supposed to steer well clear of the kitchen.
‘Stewed chicken is a staple dish of Trinidad culture’ Elena explains. ‘It’s not only limited to a Sunday lunch with family and friends, people eat it all through the week because it’s such a quick easy and tasty thing to make’.
Connection to Culture
Even though it might be easy to make, there is something deeper lying beneath the rich gravy ‘For me stewed chicken is like soul food, it’s so heart-warming for your body, but also for your spirit’. I often make it when I feel homesick, because how can you feel anything but joy when you eat it’.
Making Stewed chicken not only brings back good memories of eating with family and friends, but it was also one of the first dishes Elena learnt to make as a child, ‘Mastering making stewed chicken kick-started my culinary skills and gave me more confidence to try other things in the kitchen’, she explains. ‘It’s also an important part of keeping my heritage alive, by passing on the tradition and emotional connection of our food down to my son who was raised in London but loves anything Trini’.
Why ‘Brown’ Chicken?
Quite simply Elena explains ‘We love the colour as we tend to eat to with our eyes. If the food looks good and has a nice colour or a nice hue or a nice depth of colour we tend to equate that with it being very tasty and very delicious. So it’s not only from a flavour point of view that we use brown sugar for caramalisation, it’s also for the visual effect’.
How to Brown Chicken
The first step is to master the ‘browning’ of the meat. This involves heating sugar until it starts to caramalise and bubble. At this point the chicken is added to the pan and coated in the sugar syrup to give it that beautiful golden brown caramalised flavour and colour.
Even though the process is relatively easy, it can quickly go wrong with the sugar burning and turning black, resulting in a very bitter unpleasant meat. Below are step-by-step instructions on the correct technique for browning meat which will have you mastering Stewed chicken like Elena in no time.
The right way to make sugar syrup for Trinidad Chicken Stew
Step 1: Heat a large frying pan with oil to medium heat. Sprinkle the sugar evenly across the pan. Try to avoid lumps of sugar, the more evenly spread the easier it will start to melt.
Step 2: You will see the sugar starting to liquefy and take on the consistency of syrup. The process does require a little patience so don’t be tempted to turn up the heat.
Step 3: The sugar will start to lighten, getting a little frothy and with small bubbles. This is good.
Step 4: The sugar will start to lighten, getting a little frothy and with small bubbles. This is good!
Step 5: You know the sugar syrup is ready when it starts to turn a darker shade of brown and has a very frothy texture with lots of bubbles. This is the crucial moment to add the chicken before the sugar turns black and bitter. As the point is to caramelize, it’s important you catch the sugar syrup at this exact point.
Step 6: The chicken is then coated in the syrup and cooked down along with a few other ingredients as shown in the recipe below to create juicy tender meat and a thick rich gravy.
Skin or no skin
Well, that’s up to you. Some people like to wash their chicken and remove excess fat and skin. But as this dish is quite personal to each family and region, there are no strict rules.
The most important note is to use chicken on the bone. Other than that skin on / skin off is your choice. In this recipe, the skin has been left on for extra fat and flavour.
What seasonings are used in Trinidad Chicken Stew
Green seasoning is the big one. Basically, a mix of herbs such as thyme, parsley, coriander etc. There are many variations in what green seasoning herbs are used depending on individual tastes, but the general idea is the more the merrier to achieve flavour. Garlic and pimento are also important along with Worcestershire sauce.
Regarding the gravy sauce, some versions include coconut milk which can be added halfway through cooking for a more creole flavour. Whilst others use a squirt of tomato ketchup for thickening and flavour.
How to season chicken Trinidad-style
Always marinate your chicken before cooking. That is the secret to obtaining rich juicy flavour. Words cannot express how much more depth and taste your meat will have if it’s marinated the night before or at least 3 hours before cooking.
What to serve with Trinidad Stewed Chicken
Below is a list of traditional dishes and drinks served alongside Stewed Chicken
Trinidad Rum Punch
Trinidadian punch is a staple amongst locals with many variations spreading from town to town – however – 3 things are guaranteed with this drink – it is always – strong with rum – sour with lime, and balanced well with just the right amount of sugar. Served chilled on ice with quite a hefty dose of Angostura bitters. Trinidad Rum Punch Recipe here
Other Traditional Trinidad Side Dishes
Traditional Trinidad side servings include macaroni pie, corn pie, coo coo, pigeon peas, callaloo, stew lentils, white rice, black eye peas and rice and brown rice.
In this recipe coleslaw, another dish loved by Trinidadians, is paired with the stew along with a slight fusion touch of Mango Habanero Hot Sauce. The idea for the sauce comes from a recipe called Mango Chow, a fresh mango salad consisting of mangos, chilli and lime. Trinidad Coleslaw recipe here
Caribbean Hot Sauce
As hot sauce can always be found on most tables in Trinidad, Flaevor’s twist on this recipe combines the taste of fresh mango chow and fiery habanero chillis to produce a delicious fruity hot sauce that maintains the excitement of fresh and spicy Caribbean flavours. Recipe for Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
Keep scrolling below the recipe for more Questions & Answers on how to make the perfect Trinidad Stewed Chicken
Recipe: Trinidad Stewed Chicken
Trinidad Stewed Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thigh fillets bone-in, and skin on
- Vegetable or rapeseed oil
- 4 tbsp raw sugar
- 3-4 cloves garlic crushed
- Handful of thyme chopped finely
- Handful of parsley chopped fine (plus extra for garnish)
- Handful of coriander chopped fine (plus extra for garnish)
- 4 pimentoes chopped fine
- 1 whole habanero chilli pepper
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- Salt and black pepper
- 6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken: Combine chicken thighs with crushed garlic, chopped pimentoes, thyme, coriander, parsley, and a good amount of salt and pepper. Make sure each chicken piece is coated evenly. Transfer to the fridge and leave to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours or anywhere up to 24 hours.
- Browning Sauce: Heat a large frying pan with oil to medium heat. Sprinkle the sugar evenly across the pan. Try to avoid lumps of sugar, the more evenly spread the easier it will start to melt.
- You will see the sugar starting to liquefy and take on the consistency of syrup. The process does require a little patience so don’t be tempted to turn up the heat.
- The sugar will start to lighten, getting a little frothy and with small bubbles. This is good. Refer to the images in the post to see exactly how this process looks. You know the sugar syrup is ready when it starts to turn a darker shade of brown and has a very frothy texture with lots of bubbles. This is the crucial moment to add the chicken before the sugar turns black and bitter. As the point is to caramelize, it’s important you catch the sugar syrup at this exact point.
- Place chicken skin side down into the pan and coat evenly in the sugar syrup. Fry a few minutes then place a lid on top and turn the meat down. Allow the chicken to cook for 20 minutes until the juices have released into the pan.
- After this time, remove the lid and add 100ml water. This is for creating the gravy. Place the habanero chilli into the pan as a whole piece to add extra flavour. Cover again and cook for 30 minutes until the chicken is very tender and you have a thick gravy sauce.
- To finish the dish: Remove chicken from the heat, squeeze with lime juice and garnish with extra chopped parsley and coriander. Serve with coleslaw, mango habanero sauce, and rum punch.
Helpful cooking tips for the perfect Trinidad Stewed chicken
Questions & Answers
Why is my stew chicken so bitter?
Bitter chicken is normally the result of burnt sugar during the initial browning phase so to avoid this you need to make sure you add the chicken to the sugar at just the right time and keep a controlled cooking temperature (refer to cooking tips and photos in this article). If not too blackened and bitter, try adding a squeeze of tomato sauce to bring in a little more sweetness and balance back into the dish.
How do you get seasoning to go through chicken?
Marinating meat for as long as possible in salt, herbs, spices and oil for as long as possible is the only way to achieve maximum flavour outside and within the chicken meat. For best results leave the chicken to marinate for 12 – 24 hours. If you are rushed for time leaving it for 3 hours will also achieve good results.
How do you tenderize stewing chicken?
The two most important steps to creating fall-off-the-bone tender stewed meat are first, as mentioned above, to marinate the meat for as long as possible. Second, stewed meat should always be simmered over low heat to avoid aggressive heat draining its moisture.
Why is my stewed chicken tough?
When Steweing chicken in a crock pot or regular stovetop saucepan, using chicken on the bone is a must. Bones help regulate fat from the cartilage through the meat during cooking, keeping it moist. Try to avoid chicken breast and stick with fat-rich cuts such as thigh, legs and wings. If you find your chicken is tough and rubbery at the end of cooking it may be because the cooking temperature was too high. Always stew meat with a lid on the pot at a low temperature to ensure it stays juicy.
Trinidad Stewed Chicken with coconut milk?
Some variations of the recipe use coconut milk for added creaminess. Since the recipe varies so widely between families with herbs and spices, it’s completely up to you if you want to thicken your brown sauce with creamy coconut milk. Try adding small splashes a little at a time and mixing through the sauce until you find the right balance of flavour.
