Dominican Republic: Rum-Soaked Barbecue Chicken with Pidgeon Pea Rice & Avocado

Our Dominican Republic food-story begins over 600 year ago on the idyllic Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the  birth of the culinary term ‘Barbecue’. Oblivious to the impending arrival of Spanish ‘explorers’ who would change their way of life forever,  the Taino (Hispaniola’s Indigenous people), enjoyed a rich cultural life based on communal farming, fishing and feasting. They  also had a unique way of grilling food on a platform raised over a wood fire that allowed the food to pick up a lot of smoky flavours that they called ‘barabicu’. 

 

In 1492 Spanish Conquistadors ‘discovered’ and quickly occupied Hispaniola. Their first settlement on the island, named Santo Domingo, was the first  place in all the Americas (North and South) to be colonised by Europeans. Less than 20 years later, Santo Domingo also became the first place in the Americas that European slave ships docked, opening the door to the infamous trans-Atlantic slave trade and making Santo Domingo the heart of Europe’s ‘New World’. 

 

Santo Domingo lives on today as the oldest European city in the Americas. It is also the capital of the Dominican Republic. The modern island of Hispaniola is divided into two independent Caribbean countries with the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic holding the eastern two thirds of the island and the western French/Creole speaking Republic of Haiti occupying the remainder. 

 

Indigenous food traditions are often overlooked or erased by colonisation, but the Taino ‘barabicu’ cooking method survived  and was transformed into a thousand BBQ variations across the World thanks to Spanish sailors who shared the news. It is a bedrock of the cuisine of the Dominican Republic that has been weaving Indigenous Taino cooking techniques with deep African roots and a Spanish twist for over 500 years. It shares culinary similarities with other Latin American countries, especially near neighbours Cuba and Puerto Rico. And yet, Dominican cuisine can be differentiated from the rest of the West Indies/Caribbean Island/Latin American cuisine by its subtleness and use of milder spicing founded on onions, garlic, cilantro and oregano.

 

 our

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

menu included

RUM-SOAKED BARBECUE CHICKEN

and

PIDGEON PEA RICE

served with

Fresh Avocado

 

 

RUM-SOAKED BARBECUE CHICKEN

This recipe echoes the culinary traditions of the Taino, the pre-colonial Indigenous Dominican people, who are recognised as the first people to use the cooking technique we now call BBQ. 

 

Ingredients:

·      1.5 kg boneless chicken thighs

·      Salt and Pepper to taste

·      1 tsp onion powder

·      3 tsp garlic powder or minced garlic

·      1 tsp paprika (or chilli powder to taste if you like it hot)

·      1 tsp ground coriander 

·      1/2 cup Caribbean spiced rum- we used Sailor Jerry’s (see Tip at bottom)

·      juice of 4 large limes

·      1/4cup Worcestershire Sauce

·      1 tbs molasses

·      150 ml or more of vegetable oil for frying

·      1/2  a ripe Avocado per person sliced

·      Green salad for the sides

 

Method:

1.    Put the chicken in a glass dish and add salt and pepper to taste

2.    Mix the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and ground coriander together and rub the spice mix over and into the chicken

3.    Now pour the spiced rum, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce and molasses over the chicken and mix well making sure the chicken is evenly coated

4.    Cover the dish and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 2-4 hours, taking time to stir the dish occasionally to ensure even flavour distribution

5.    Once chicken is marinated prepare the BBQ

6.    Heat the BBQ grill to medium and add some salt and oil

7.    Take chicken out of the marinade and brown on all sides about 5 mins

 

NOTE: From this point the chicken needs to be covered. You may have a BBQ with a hood or you can simply use a large baking tray to cover the chicken

 

8.    Cover chicken with a lid and cook for  30 minutes or so till cooked, turning often and adding the remaining basting liquid about half way though

9.    Once chicken is cooked turn off the grill and let it sit under the cover keeping warm until you are ready to serve

10.         Serve with sliced  fresh avocado and a green salad

 

Tips on Spiced Rum:

Ø  Dominican Spiced Rum has a deep amber colour. Made, fermented and aged in oak barrels it has an exotic caramel flavour with notes of aromatic spices such as vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove

Ø  Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum is distilled on the Caribbean Virgin Islands (a near neighbour to the Dominican Republic) and shares similar flavours.

Ø  If you can’t buy Caribbean spiced rum a good substitute would be to mix together half a cup of any brown/dark/aged rum, 2 pinches of nutmeg powder (or grated nutmeg), 2 pinch ground cinnamon (or some pieces of cinnamon bark), 3 whole cloves, and half a split vanilla bean (or 2 drops vanilla essence), and add this mix to the marinade

 

Note on the importance of Avocado in Dominican Republic Cuisine:

According to Dominican food writer Ilana Benady, “Avocados are a simple but cherished part of everyday meals in the Dominican Republic…Dominicans don’t usually see the need to dress up an avocado; some sliced avocado on the side [of a dish] is always welcomed with enthusiasm and its popularity is indisputable”  https://www.dominicancooking.com/dominican-avocado-guide

 

 

PIDGEON PEA RICE 

Ingredients:

·      2 cup long grain rice (Basmati or similar) – no need to wash

·      1 tbs olive oil

·      1 small red onion, peeled and finely diced

·      3 tbs  crushed garlic 

·      1 tbs fresh chopped cilantro/coriander or parsley

·      1 tbs fresh chopped oregano

·      1 cup fresh shelled green Pidgeon Peas  (or see notes for alternatives)

·      1 tbs tomato paste

·      1tsp salt

·      2 cups chicken stock (or 2 chicken stock cubes dissolved in  2 cups water)

·      2 cups coconut milk (fresh or tinned)

NOTE on Fresh Pidgeon Peas and replacements: 

Ø  I am lucky to have a Pidgeon Pea tree in the garden at my workplace, because these beauties are not widely available in supermarkets.

Ø  If you can find fresh Pidgeon Peas it is good to know that it does take time to open the pods, but like shelling any peas, it’s a labour of love with family

Ø  Closest replacement of Fresh Pidgeon peas for this recipe is 1 cup tinned Edamame beans (which are baby soy beans), or 1 cup cooked mung beans.

Ø  The recipe method is written as if you are using fresh green Pidgeon Peas. If you are using cooked mung or edamame beans flip recipe steps 5 and 8 around, so rice goes in at step 5 and cooked beans go in at step 8

 

Method:

1.    Heat oil to medium heat in a middle size pot/saucepan (that has a tight-fitting lid that will be used later)

2.    Add onions to the oil and sauté on medium heat stirring often with a wooden spoon until onions are translucent but not brown about 5 mins

3.    Stir in the garlic and cook for a few minutes

4.    Add in the tomato paste and fresh herbs and cook a few mins stirring often

5.    Add fresh Pidgeon Peas and stir in to coat in oil, paste and herbs

6.    Now stir in the coconut milk, stock and salt and bring to the boil

7.    Turn the heat back to brisk simmer and cook for 1 minute stirring often with the wooden spoon to stop anything sticking to the bottom of the pot

8.    Finally stir in the rice and give the pot a very good stir again scrapping the bottom of the pot with the wooden spoon to ensure nothing is sticking

then pop the pot lid on and turn the heat back to low (2/10)

 

TIP: from this point don’t take the lid off the pot until ready to serve the rice

 

9.    Let the covered pot simmer for 10 minutes then turn the heat off and let the covered pot steam on the cooling element for a further 10 minutes

10.         Now just let your rice sit warm in the covered pot until ready to serve

11.          When ready to serve take the lid off and gently fluff rice with a fork

 

These are  Q-ZINE original recipes informed by multiple sources including but not limited to:

https://www.goya.com/en/recipes/rice-with-pigeon-peas-and-coconut

https://www.dominicancooking.com/shrimp-coconut-sauce-camarones-coco

https://www.dominicancooking.com/ensalada-verde-dominican-salad

https://www.dominicancooking.com/ensalada-aguacate-avocado-salad

http://gourmetpedia.net/recipes/chicken-with-rum-dominican-style/

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/158204/fried-chicken-chunks-chicharrones-de-pollo-dominican/