Chicken inasal — Bacolod-style annatto-grilled chicken with garlic rice

Intermedio

Chicken Inasal — Bacolod Grilled Chicken

Name: Chicken Inasal — Bacolod Grilled Chicken
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 1 Whole chicken, quartered; 960 ml (4 cups) Water, for the brine; 750 g Ice cubes; 60 g (1/4 cup) Salt, for the brine; 1 tbsp Sugar, for the brine; 5 Dried bay leaves; 1 tbsp Garlic paste; 1 tbsp Ginger paste; 1 tbsp Lemongrass paste; 3 tbsp Calamansi juice; 3 tbsp Vinegar; 0.5 tsp Ground black pepper; 0.25 tsp Salt, for the marinade; 240 ml (1 cup) Lemon-lime soda; 120 ml (1/2 cup) Chicken oil (annatto oil); 3 tbsp Melted margarine

Bacolod's famous grilled chicken: brined, then marinated in lemongrass, ginger, calamansi and vinegar, and basted with orange annatto oil over the coals until the skin turns lacquered and sour-savoury.

Fuente

Receta de Vanjo Merano · 📱 Influencer · Vanjo Merano — Filipino food writer behind Panlasang Pinoy, the largest Filipino recipe site

Los nombres de cocineros y creadores aparecen únicamente como crédito de la fuente. More Recipes Please es independiente y no está afiliada, respaldada ni patrocinada por ellos.

Panlasang Pinoy (Vanjo Merano) — Vanjo Merano's published chicken inasal. The dish belongs to Western Visayas and is most strongly identified with the city of Bacolod, which declared it a locally important cultural property in November 2022. Bacolod and Iloilo versions differ.

Cocinero: Vanjo Merano

Watch it being made · 3 videos

Vanjo Merano Our Food Love Story JTV Food Channel

⏱ 60 min🍽 4 porciones🔥 377 kcal🇵🇭 Filipinas

Sin gluten

Pasos

Combine the 960 ml of water, the 60 g of salt, the sugar and the bay leaves in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar and salt dissolve.
Pour it into a large bowl, tip in the ice cubes, and let it cool completely before the chicken goes anywhere near it.
💡 Completely means completely. Warm brine sitting against raw chicken is a food-safety problem, not just a technique note.
Soak the quartered chicken in the cold brine for 90 minutes. Drain it and pat it thoroughly dry.
Mix the garlic, ginger and lemongrass pastes with the calamansi juice, vinegar, black pepper, the 0.25 tsp salt and the soda. Add the chicken and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
💡 Three hours minimum, overnight if you can. This marinade is where all the flavour comes from — the grill only cooks it.
Lift the chicken out and reserve the marinade. Grill over medium coals, skin side down first, basting with the reserved marinade, until the thickest part reaches 74°C (165°F).
💡 Stop basting with the raw marinade in the last few minutes so the final coat is fully cooked. Medium coals, not roaring ones — the sugar in the soda burns black long before the thigh is done.
In the final minutes, brush generously with the chicken oil mixed with the melted margarine. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.

💡 Consejos

Annatto oil is easy: warm 120 ml of oil with 2 tablespoons of annatto seeds over low heat for about 5 minutes, then strain the seeds out. It keeps for weeks and colours anything you brush it on.
The traditional partner is a dipping bowl the diner mixes themselves — vinegar, soy sauce, calamansi and crushed chili — plus a scoop of garlic rice. Do not skip the dip.
Without a charcoal grill, a very hot oven grill/broiler or a ridged cast-iron pan both work. You lose the smoke, which is a real loss, but the marinade still carries the dish.