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This is the ultimate classic Thai BBQ chicken recipe. The flavours are so unique to Thai cuisine that I promise you will not have had BBQ chicken that tastes quite like it. The dipping sauce is a must have for a complete Thai experience, and don't forget some sticky rice and papaya salad on the side!
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The Ultimate BBQ Chicken ไก่ย่าง (gai yang)
- Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken breast (or 2 split breasts), bone-in, skin-on
- 2 chicken hindquarters (thigh & drumstick combo),2 bone-in, skin-on *
* You can choose any cut of bone-in, skin-on chicken you prefer
Marinade:
- 1½ tsp white peppercorns
- 2 tsp toasted coriander seeds
- 1 stalk lemongrass, bottom half only, thinly sliced
- 5 cloves garlic
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp black soy sauce (or another kind of dark soy sauce)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Dipping Sauce - Nam Jim Jeaw
- 2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate (what is tamarind?)
- 1 Tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- Chili flakes, to taste
- 1 Tbsp shallots, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp green onion, chopped
- 3 sprigs cilantro, chopped
- 1 Tbsp toasted rice powder (see how to make it here, it's easy!)
Instructions
Grind white peppercorns and coriander seeds into a powder using a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder. When fine, add lemongrass and garlic and grind until fine. Transfer into a bowl and add all remaining marinade ingredients; stir to dissolve the sugar.
If desired, you can split the breasts and the hindquarters into individual pieces like I showed in the video. Trim off excess skin from thighs, if any. Add chicken to a zip-top bag or a casserole dish and pour the marinade over, making sure all the pieces are well coated. Marinade at least 2 hours or overnight, stir the chicken or flip the bag half way through to ensure even marinating.
Make dipping sauce:
Combine tamarind, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar; stir until the sugar is dissolved (it will really help to make sure your sugar is very finely chopped). Add all remaining ingredients and stir. If making sauce in advance, don't add cilantro and green onions until ready to serve.
To grill chicken:
Preheat the grill on medium heat, then place the chicken on the grill, skin-side up. Tip: If your grill has hot spots and cool spots, place the chicken on the cool spots to prevent the skin from burning, and you can move them to the hot spots later if more skin charring is desired. Turn the heat down to low or medium-low and cook with the lid closed, flipping every 5 minutes, until done, about 18-30 minutes depending on the size of the pieces. If you've got large pieces of chicken, keep the BBQ temperature between 275°F - 300°F so the outside doesn't burn too quickly. If using a meat thermometer, cook the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 165 °F or 74°C.
Keywords: BBQ, chicken, BBQ chicken, grilling,
B.F.
your video links seem to have disappeared on several recipes i've tried today...not sure if it is a tech glitch or what
Klaudia
Oh my, it was BOMB. I’ve used regular chicken breast. I’ve never ever eaten such a good chicken breast in my life. I paired it with sticky rice and your papaya salad. Everything was incredible! Thanks for an amazing recipe!
★★★★★
Pailin Chongchitnant
Thank you!! So glad to hear!
Martha
I made this BBQ chicken. I spatchcooked it and grilled it whole. I would include the photo but there isn’t a link and I don’t do instagram. I am too old. Ha ha. This chicken recipe and sauce was delicious! Thank you. I served it with a jasmine rice, Thai green bean salad, a Thai pickled red cabbage, grilled corn on the cob, grilled zucchini and fresh strawberries. I make a lot of your recipes.
★★★★★
Dan
I used this recipe on a whole spatchcocked chicken and grilled over charcoal. It turned out fantastic. I held back on the water addition to the marinade and added extra lemongrass to make it chunkier. This made it much easier to massage into the meat and tuck up under the skin. Served with the dipping sauce, sticky rice, lettuce and herbs, and a cold Chang over ice. Flavor wise I was transported back to Udon Thani. Thanks Pai for the excellent recipe!
★★★★★
Daniel
Found this recipe a couple days before my new Traeger Ironwood was delivered and this recipe was selected for the maiden voyage. Instead of grilling, smoked it with pecan pellets at 300(F) until the probe read 165 at the breast. The result was some of the tastiest juicy chicken I’ve ever had!
★★★★★
Steph
We love it, I use it when I skewer chicken. Only thing we had to do was cut way back on the pepper since it is extremely peppery for us. I had gai yang in the isaan area and don’t remember the pepper taste so cutting back is recommended 🙂 maybe it’s more of a south Thailand thing? Thank you for this version of the recipe we love it minus too much pepper.
★★★★★
Tim Doughty
I have to leave a follow-up review to say that this has become my standard marinade for pork ribs. I can dress them with a BBQ sauce at the end, but the favor of the meat after the marinade is outstanding. Also, the first time I made it I used a Chinese dark soy sauce which turned out too salty. If you use a Chinese brand I suggest cutting back on the other soy sauce. Once I bought the Thai brand the flavor balance is perfect.
★★★★★
Darin
Outstanding!
★★★★★
Leigh
Hello! I'd like to make this recipe soon. I have both Chinese black vinegar and Taiwanese black vinegar. Can you please let me know which I should use?
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi! So the recipe doesn't call for any black vinegar, just black soy sauce, which you can sub with dark soy sauce 🙂
Leigh
Thank you for your reply; I realised later that I had misinterpreted. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe this weekend!
Tobias Ackermann
I am very looking forward to try this recipe out.
One thing is remaining unclear: I only have indian tamarind concentrate from TRS at home. The colouring is totally different, it's not brown it's raster black.
Can I use it for this recipe as well?
Your feedback would be highly appreciated 🙂
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi Tobias! So sorry I missed this! The Indian tamarind is much more concentrated so if you were to use it you would have to dilute it by a lot...and I'm not sure how much. So I'd try to look for Thai/Vietnamese tamarind if possible.
Tim
I’ve tried different marinades for Gai Yang in the past, but this one delivers the flavor! I actually barbecued Baby Back Ribs with this because that’s what I had in the freezer. The tartness of the dipping sauce helps cut through any fattiness in the meat. Two more successes!
★★★★★
Stephen Chan
I've made it quite a few times, both for the two of us and feasting guests, and everyone loves it. I've made it both with a whole chicken and also just with hind quarters, both resulting great!
★★★★★
Esther Hastings
I've made this recipe several times now and we ALL love it!! It's so incredibly tasty. I've also deboned an entire chicken and cut into pieces and then marinade to use for stir fry. Served with white jasmine rice. I've also cooked the chicken pieces in an air fryer. Let me tell you, ALL methods result in a very, very tasty dish. But, the crowning jewel is the Nam Jim Jeaw. The dipping sauce. OMGosh!!!!! So good. Last time I made a quadruple batch and bottled it in my fridge, just to have on hand. Truly, delish. Try this one. I can't imagine that you'll be disappointed!
★★★★★