Jamaican Jerk Chicken Brings Caribbean Heat to Your Kitchen

This jerk chicken can be grilled or roasted. Lynda Balslev for Tastefood

If you can’t escape to the Caribbean this winter, then bring its spicy heat and tropical flavor to your kitchen. Jamaican jerk cuisine is a method of dry-rubbing or marinating meat in a jerk spice blend or paste packed with fresh chiles, herbs, and spices. The marinade infuses flavor and tenderizes the meat, which is traditionally cooked on a grill.

Jerk seasoning is meant to be hot—very hot—which is typically achieved by adding Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers to the seasoning. If you are familiar with the Scoville scale (the measurement of the heat units of peppers), these peppers are at the top of the scale. This recipe tames the heat a bit by substituting jalapeño or serrano peppers so that you and your dinner companions won’t self-combust. Just remember to carefully seed any peppers that pack heat with gloved hands.

The list of spices and aromatics in this jerk paste is lengthy, but the method is simple. Gather the ingredients and add them all at once to a food processor. Blend to a paste while taking care not to inhale any peppery air that may waft up from the feed tube while processing. Then slather the paste all over the chicken and let it marinate, ideally overnight.

Jerk chicken is typically cooked on a grill (it’s from the Caribbean, after all). If grilling is not an option (for most of us, it’s not the Caribbean, after all), then this recipe provides an option to oven roast.

Jerk Chicken

Active Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour plus marinating time

Serves 6 to 8

• 8 whole chicken legs

For the Marinade

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 to 3 jalapeño or serrano chiles, stemmed (seeded optional)
• 1 (2-inch) knob ginger, peeled, chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
• 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place the marinade ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process to form a paste.

Make small incisions all over the chicken legs. Arrange the chicken in one layer in a large baking dish. Rub the marinade all over the chicken, under the skin, and in the incisions. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or, preferably, overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling.

If using a grill, arrange the chicken on the grates over indirect medium heat. Cook until thoroughly cooked through, about 40 minutes, depending on the size of the legs, turning once or twice. During the last few minutes of cooking, move the chicken to direct heat to char the skin.

If using an oven, roast in a 375-degree F oven until thoroughly cooked through, about 40 minutes, depending on the size of the legs. During the last few minutes of cooking, turn on the broiler to char the skin.

Serve garnished with chopped scallions and lime wedges.