MANILA, Philippines — Forget about how you usually cook your Chicken Inasal. Baking then grilling it ensures that the chicken is cooked through and is as flavorful as it can get.
It’s a tried and tested cooking method that Lourdes "Lou" Nuesca Puntay, HR officer of OB Montessori Center, applies to her own Chicken Inasal whenever she makes a batch for home consumption.
A certified green thumb and home gardener, she also keeps an herb and vegetable garden, where she picks ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, parsley, Italian oregano, basil, even Kaffir lime leaves, to use for her cooking. With an herb garden at home, Puntay's dishes are as fresh as they can be, with the flavors shining through.
For this recipe, Puntay uses calamansi, onion, ginger, turmeric, and lemongrass, which she picked from her herb and vegetable garden right before using them.
Baked & Grilled Chicken Inasal
Ingredients:
4 pcs. chicken leg quarters
4 pcs. calamansi, juiced
4 cloves garlic
1 pc. small onion
Ginger
Turmeric
Lemongrass roots
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. sugarcane vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Annatto oil
Butter
Procedure:
1. Dice the garlic and onion. Grate the ginger, turmeric, and lemongrass roots.
2. In a bowl, combine calamansi, garlic, onion, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass roots, soy sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix well.
3. Marinate chicken leg quarters in the mixture for at least 1 hour.
4. Bake in a pre-heated 200°C oven for 30 minutes.
5. Grill for 10 to 15 minutes, basting with annatto oil and butter.
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