You know those times when you see chicken wings on sale and think: "you know, I'm tired of just dousing these in buffalo sauce." and feel like you need a break? Maybe you don't.
Look, island food can be hard to find in a restaurant - that's why you're reading this blog, right? Or are you?
Jerk chicken is sort of a mind-bending and illogical combination of flavors (in your head) come together to make some of the sauciest, caramel-y, and spiciest chicken you'll ever eat, AND you won't have to fight people in the Atlanta airport to get it either. I like using the chicken wings for full portability of this entire meal with the tostones, but feel free to honestly adapt this into an entire spatchcocked chicken for a big party in the summer (as I sit in the dead of winter writing this). You may have also never had tostones. All I really need to say is: twice-fried starch. Rich and a little gooey on the inside, crispy and salty on the outside. You may never go back to fries, but I can't judge you if you do. Shopping List (Marinade):
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Shopping List (The Other Stuff):
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Prep:
Take the 'solid' ingredients in the marinade and either chop/mince them as fine as you can, or puree them in a small food processor or mortar and pestle. Dealer's choice, y'all. Add in the remaining liquid ingredients until you have a somewhat thick and dark concoction to use as a marinade. To which you should toss with the chicken and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes. There's not a ton of acid in this, so you don't necessarily have to worry about it getting too funky of a texture from over-marinating, but don't forget about it in the back of your icebox.
Start preheating a large cast iron skillet in the oven at 425 deg F. You'll be roasting the chicken wings in this.
Also start preheating a cast iron skillet suitable for frying with oil to 350 deg F.
Make the salsa. Y'all...it's salsa. Chop the mango, pineapple, shallot, serrano, and cilantro and combine with the wet stuff (the lime and oil). Put it in the fridge to let those flavors coalesce.
Peel the plantain, and chop into 2 inch-ish sections and set aside. These won't oxidize CRAZY fast like a bruised banana or straight up sodium (watch some YouTube videos on that for real).
The Business:
Toss the wings in the preheated cast iron skillet that has been in the oven. I would warn you against putting ALL of the marinade in, because a) there's a lot of scorchable things with sugar content (soy sauce, brown sugar, sugars from onions, etc) and b) you want these to roast, not braise. Once they're in that smoking hot pan, don't move them for a good 15 minutes (of their 35-40 minute total cook time). Let some of that marinade caramelize, but don't burn 'em either. Balance...and stuff.
While the chicken is roasting, start making tostones. This process is surprisingly easy. Carefully, and working in batches, fry the exterior of the plantains until they've taken on a light gold color. You're looking for the cut edges to darken JUST a little - you're not looking to fully cook these right now. Then evacuate those to your wire rack to drain slightly. At which point you'll then take a large spatula or other flat surface (bench scraper, leftover picture frame, whatever) and smash the half-fried plantain into a disc, with the cut edges still facing up so you get this nice little web pattern. It's cute. Then, take each disc and dip it into some cold water, shake off any excess, and CAREFULLY return it to the oil. I shouldn't have to warn you about the dangers of water + hot oil, but this is illogically a crucial step in getting a crispy exterior. Continue frying these until they're a nice deep golden color (this should really only take a couple of minutes, so pay attention). Drain them on the wire rack (AGAIN), and immediately, and liberally, dress them with some kosher salt or fancy flaky sea salt.
After about 15-20 minutes, toss the chicken wings that have been in the oven around so all sides get some nice char and caramelization to them.
Now you COULD make a creamy-ish dipping sauce for both the tostones and wings, but I'm a lazy person, so I didn't the last time I made these. I'm not perfect. Go all out - use your imagination, lime cremas would work well here.
Otherwise, plate everything up. Chow down on that mango salsa. Lap it up.
Take the 'solid' ingredients in the marinade and either chop/mince them as fine as you can, or puree them in a small food processor or mortar and pestle. Dealer's choice, y'all. Add in the remaining liquid ingredients until you have a somewhat thick and dark concoction to use as a marinade. To which you should toss with the chicken and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes. There's not a ton of acid in this, so you don't necessarily have to worry about it getting too funky of a texture from over-marinating, but don't forget about it in the back of your icebox.
Start preheating a large cast iron skillet in the oven at 425 deg F. You'll be roasting the chicken wings in this.
Also start preheating a cast iron skillet suitable for frying with oil to 350 deg F.
Make the salsa. Y'all...it's salsa. Chop the mango, pineapple, shallot, serrano, and cilantro and combine with the wet stuff (the lime and oil). Put it in the fridge to let those flavors coalesce.
Peel the plantain, and chop into 2 inch-ish sections and set aside. These won't oxidize CRAZY fast like a bruised banana or straight up sodium (watch some YouTube videos on that for real).
The Business:
Toss the wings in the preheated cast iron skillet that has been in the oven. I would warn you against putting ALL of the marinade in, because a) there's a lot of scorchable things with sugar content (soy sauce, brown sugar, sugars from onions, etc) and b) you want these to roast, not braise. Once they're in that smoking hot pan, don't move them for a good 15 minutes (of their 35-40 minute total cook time). Let some of that marinade caramelize, but don't burn 'em either. Balance...and stuff.
While the chicken is roasting, start making tostones. This process is surprisingly easy. Carefully, and working in batches, fry the exterior of the plantains until they've taken on a light gold color. You're looking for the cut edges to darken JUST a little - you're not looking to fully cook these right now. Then evacuate those to your wire rack to drain slightly. At which point you'll then take a large spatula or other flat surface (bench scraper, leftover picture frame, whatever) and smash the half-fried plantain into a disc, with the cut edges still facing up so you get this nice little web pattern. It's cute. Then, take each disc and dip it into some cold water, shake off any excess, and CAREFULLY return it to the oil. I shouldn't have to warn you about the dangers of water + hot oil, but this is illogically a crucial step in getting a crispy exterior. Continue frying these until they're a nice deep golden color (this should really only take a couple of minutes, so pay attention). Drain them on the wire rack (AGAIN), and immediately, and liberally, dress them with some kosher salt or fancy flaky sea salt.
After about 15-20 minutes, toss the chicken wings that have been in the oven around so all sides get some nice char and caramelization to them.
Now you COULD make a creamy-ish dipping sauce for both the tostones and wings, but I'm a lazy person, so I didn't the last time I made these. I'm not perfect. Go all out - use your imagination, lime cremas would work well here.
Otherwise, plate everything up. Chow down on that mango salsa. Lap it up.