Jerk Chicken

[scottreitz]

I realize the heat of summer is far away, but I've been trying to do this every summer for the past 3 years, and never seem to get around to it. I loved the jerk chicken I had when I was in Jamaica years ago, and since I wont be going back for many years to come, it's time to bring it home.

To do this properly though I need two things that have proved pretty elusive in the past.

1. Scotch Bonnet Peppers
2. The branches of a pimento tree

The first shouldn't be hard...I just never seem to see them when I need them. I was hoping some hot head in here would know of a place that carries them regularly. The second has me totally trumped. If I can't find them I'll just burn a bunch of allspice in the coals, but I doubt that will be the same. Where does one find the branched of the almighty pimento tree?

Give me 1 and 2, a case of Red Stripe, a bottle of Appleton estate rum, and some hot humid weather, and I'll be singing Buffalo Soldier all weekend long.

[zoramargolis]

Well, Scott, done is better than perfectly 100% authentic, in my world. Get yourself some Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning paste and enjoy some jerk chicken instead of feeling regretful that you haven't made it yet.

[bilrus]

No thoughts on the second item, but Habaneros are awfully close to Scotch Bonnets, although a little hotter. That's what I use for my Jerk marinade and I've been able to find them even at my neighborhood Giant.

[Sthitch]

I have been looking for pimento wood for sometime. For some reason it is next to impossible to find in the US. There are no legal barriers to its importation (as some restaurants import it directly). But the issue is that if you can find it in the US, it would not be right since it is likely to be dried. In Jamaica they use it while it is still green (not surprising since the climate there is not really conducive for drying wood).

[scottreitz]

Zoe,

Thanks for the tip, but I'm just not a pre-bottled kind of guy. To me the 4 year wait will make it worth it. Spending the day with a mortar and pestle, fresh chilis, spices, and ending up with magma hot jerk paste to me, is like going to church for others.

Sthitch,

Fresh would be great, but I think dried soaked in water for 30 mins or so would be pretty damn close. Like I said if I can't find it, I think I am just going to buy a few jars of allspice, wrap the whole seeds up in foil, and throw them on the burner. Should be close, but we'll see. Maybe I'll get lucky and find the elusive pimento

[PollyG]

Scotch Bonnet/habaneros are almost always found at any of our area Asian superstores (Grand Mart, Super-H).

Or you could haul yourself out to DeBaggio's and get your own plants. The rough part of a trip to DeBaggio's is picking among the insane number of choices for tomatoes, basils, peppers, and thymes.

[Bob Wells]

Scotch Bonnet/habaneros are almost always found at any of our area Asian superstores (Grand Mart, Super-H).

Or you could haul yourself out to DeBaggio's and get your own plants. The rough part of a trip to DeBaggio's is picking among the insane number of choices for tomatoes, basils, peppers, and thymes.

Hey Polly, it's Bob W. from Chowhound

I will second Polly's recommendation of DeBaggio's. That place is truly amazing, and it's in such a nice neighborhood too. I live around the corner

[scottreitz]

Scotch Bonnet/habaneros are almost always found at any of our area Asian superstores (Grand Mart, Super-H).

Or you could haul yourself out to DeBaggio's and get your own plants. The rough part of a trip to DeBaggio's is picking among the insane number of choices for tomatoes, basils, peppers, and thymes.

Awesome Polly! My second home is just over a mile from H mart. I'll look harder for them there. I doubt I'll be able to grow my own bonnets on a balcony that gets no sun, but I wonder if DeBaggio's sells Pimento Trees?!

[Rieux]

I had the best jerk chicken of my life last night at Scotchie's in Montego Bay Jamaica. It's like sitting outside at a friend's back yard, filled with locals. You order white or dark meat by the pound. It's really great with a smoky heat.

[DonRocks]

Decent is an apt description. Reminded me of a first class meal on a domestic airline. I will note that the menu on the train changes at least quarterly, if not more frequently than that (it all kind of blends together). No idea if Cuisine Solutions is involved, but I will ask if it's cooked in the bag this week...

See, even if it was, Jerk Chicken is one recipe that shouldn't be boiled in bag. When I think Jerk Chicken - and I think most people are the same way - I think "smoke" or "fire"; not simply Jamaican Jerk spicing. Chicken Tetrazzini? Okay, sous-vide it.

I'm not sure what this implies, but Cuisine Solutions used to maintain a blog where they went around and praised dishes at different restaurants - here's an entry from 2011 where they had the Jerk Chicken at Chef Geoff's. Now, it doesn't come right out and say it was their sous-vide Jerk Chicken, but why else would they write it? And the post is indeed tagged "sous-vide." It looks like they discontinued the blog three years ago, and if so, they were really smart to stop writing it because it's essentially a list of things to avoid.

[johnb]

Jerk is sort of like Cajun.  The term caught on and everything associated with it became bastardized.

Jerk is made over an open pit setup.  If one is looking for the real thing, then one must look for corrugated roofing.  If no corrugated roofing is found over the chicken, holding in the smoke and flavorings from the green pimento wood the jerk is cooking on and the slow fire below, then it's not jerk chicken.  Period.  Sorry, but that's just a fact.

I seriously question whether the real thing can be found outside of Jamaica -- maybe in a few Jamaican neighborhoods where they can legally set up a pit and get the right wood -- if anyone knows of such a place, I for one would be pleased to hear about it.  Meanwhile, all other "jerk chicken" is, at best, a pale imitation of jerk chicken, no matter what spices are involved.  It could of course be tasty, but it isn't jerk.

[thistle]

I agree, I've cooked my own 'jerk chicken', but it's chicken thighs smoked in a Weber Smoky Mt. (Closed pit), then w/ added commercial jerk marinade (I don' make my own, because I don't cook it often enough). The marinades I've used are Walkers Wood, Jamaican & very spicy, & St. Ann's Bay, VA Beach, less spicy, but delicious.