Northern Thai-Style Grilled Chicken (Kai Yang)
Serves 4
A funky, flavorful marinade adds depth and interest to this grilled chicken, which is delicious with Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce and/or Tamarind Chili Dipping Sauce. If you’re going to grill, do it over charcoal!
Use lump hardwood charcoal, and none of that terrible starter fluid. Your reward is a deep, complex, smoky flavor that makes everything more interesting.
Ingredients #
- 1 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves and tender stems
- 1/2 cup fish sauce
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 lemon grass stalk, ends trimmed, bottom 8" chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp white peppercorns
- 1 whole chicken
- Lime wedges to serve
- Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce to serve
- Tamarind Chili Dipping Sauce to serve
Instructions #
Split the chicken in half: use poultry shears to cut up each side of the backbone (discard the backbone) and then use a sharp knife to cut through the breastbone. Chop off the small tips of the wings (they’ll burn).
In a blender, combine the cilantro, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, lemongrass, garlic, coriander, black peppercorns and white peppercorns. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Reserve 1/4 cup for glazing.
Place the chicken in a large zip-close plastic bag. Pour in the marinade and seal. Set in a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Grill the chicken over indirect high heat until the thigh reaches an internal temperature of 175. As the breast approaches an internal temperature of 160, rotate the chicken halves so that the breast is further from the heat (it’s done at 165, so you want to try to give the dark meat more heat).
Transfer chicken to a carving board and let rest for 20 minutes. Serve with lime wedges and/or dipping sauce if desired.