Gai Yang — Isan Charcoal-Grilled Chicken

Name: Gai Yang — Isan Charcoal-Grilled Chicken
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thai (Isan)
Ingredients: 1.3 kg Whole chicken, spatchcocked; 6 Coriander roots; 10 cloves Garlic; 1.5 tsp White peppercorns; 4 tbsp Fish sauce; 1.5 tbsp Oyster sauce; 2 tbsp Palm sugar; 1 tsp Turmeric powder; 5 tbsp Coconut milk; 1 stalk Lemongrass, finely chopped; 2 tbsp Fish sauce, for the jaew sauce; 2 tbsp Lime juice, for the jaew sauce; 1 tbsp Roasted chilli flakes, for the jaew sauce; 1 tsp Palm sugar, for the jaew sauce; 1 tbsp Toasted ground sticky rice (khao khua), for the jaew sauce; Shallot and coriander, for the jaew sauce; for 4 Sticky rice, to serve

A whole chicken flattened, soaked overnight in garlic, coriander root and white pepper, then cooked slowly over low coals until the skin is lacquered and the meat still runs with juice. Eaten with sticky rice, som tam and a fierce little dipping sauce.

المصدر

الوصفة من Isan (northeastern Thai) kitchens · 🏺 تقليدي · Northeastern Thailand — an ethnically Lao region whose food travelled to Bangkok with its migrant workers

Isan / Lao origin · traditional dish — Filed honestly rather than claimed as Thai. The cited article — Wikipedia's canonical title is 'Kai yang', to which 'Gai yang' redirects — records the dish as originating in Laos and now eaten throughout Thailand, and gives the alternative names kai ping, gai ping and ping kai. It confirms the marinade of fish sauce, garlic, turmeric, coriander root and white pepper, with common additions including dark soy, shallots, lemongrass, chilli, palm sugar and vinegar; the method of halving and flattening a whole chicken before grilling it slowly over low charcoal without letting it burn or dry; and the standard accompaniments of green papaya salad, sticky rice and spicy dipping sauces. No cook is credited because none is verifiable. Quantities and method here are this book's own.

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شاهد طريقة التحضير · 3 فيديو

Pailin's Kitchen Mark Wiens Yoyo & Min Thai Kitchen

⏱ 105 دقيقة🍽 4 حصة🔥 540 سعرة🇹🇭 تايلاند🌶️🌶️

حلالخالٍ من الألبان

الخطوات

Pound the coriander roots, garlic and white peppercorns in a mortar until they are a rough paste. This trio is the oldest seasoning base in Thai cooking and it is worth doing by hand.
Stir in the fish sauce, oyster sauce, palm sugar, turmeric, lemongrass and 3 tbsp of the coconut milk. Rub it into the chicken, getting it under the skin wherever you can, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours — overnight is better.
💡 Under the skin is where it counts. Marinade sitting on top of the skin mostly burns off; marinade underneath actually seasons the meat.
Build a charcoal fire and let it burn down until the coals are grey and you can hold your palm 15 cm above them for 6 seconds. Bank them to one side so half the grill has no fire under it.
💡 Flames char the outside before the inside is anywhere near done. Gai yang is grilled low and slow, and street vendors keep the birds well above the coals for exactly this reason.
Lay the chicken skin side up on the cool side, close the lid or cover it with foil, and cook for 35 minutes. Then turn it, brush with the remaining coconut milk, and give it another 15.
Move it directly over the coals for the last 5–8 minutes, skin down, turning often, until the skin is deep brown and blistered. Pull it at 75°C in the thickest part of the thigh.
💡 This is the only stage where you want direct fire, and it is over fast. Stand there and watch it — coconut milk and palm sugar go from lacquered to burnt in under a minute.
While it rests for 10 minutes, make the jaew: stir the fish sauce, lime, chilli flakes and palm sugar together until the sugar dissolves, then add the khao khua, shallot and coriander.
Chop the bird through the bone into rough pieces and serve with sticky rice, the jaew, and a plate of som tam if you are doing it properly.

💡 نصائح

No charcoal? Roast at 190°C for 45 minutes, then finish 6 minutes under a hot grill. You lose the smoke, which is real, but the marinade does most of the work.
Chicken thighs work if a whole bird is too much: same marinade, 25 minutes over indirect heat, 5 minutes direct.
Jaew keeps three days in the fridge and is worth making on its own. It goes with any grilled meat and with plain sticky rice.
Sticky rice is not ordinary rice. Soak it 4 hours or overnight, then STEAM it over boiling water for 25 minutes — never boil it in water like jasmine rice, which turns it into porridge.