Chicken Inasal

Oven-Grilled Chicken Inasal

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I just love my new kitchen, specifically the oven.  I have mentioned in my previous posts that I stopped baking and roasting for more than a year at our old home.  I hate the sound of the fire alarm and triggering it is a common incident when you use the oven in modern high-rise apartments.  Moving to our new home is such a blessing.  Now I am back and in love with this ever so versatile kitchen appliance.  I had a painful, stressful 2 weeks with deadline overload (and the kids’ school holiday at the same time!) ; the oven always saved the day – pizza, roasts, easy, stress-free, yum.

Anyway, this chicken inasal isn’t one of those quick ones, as the dish needs your attention every 10 minutes.  The kids love roast chicken which I normally prep kiwi-style with spices like parsley, basil, rosemary and thyme.  Then I crave something more Asian, or more Filipino.  The simplest would be to season it with salt and pepper, or adobo-style.  Then I thought about this yellowish grilled chicken that I found all over the country the last time I visited the Philippines.  That’s how I get into making chicken inasal using multifunction oven instead of charcoal grill.  Hey, I am not a barbecue person I need my man to light it up for me.

I’ve read that the classic recipe calls for annatto oil but since I wanted to cook it so badly I used what I have in my pantry. Paprika.  The annatto seeds give the chicken the right color that I think could also be achieved with paprika. I would, of course, use annatto if available.  I make chili oil regularly so infusing another spice into oil is something I understand by heart.  And I can also butterfly a chicken in a jiffy. Practice makes perfect.

I didn’t try to follow a specific recipe to the letter for making this dish.  It’s more about what I thought would give wonderful flavors that I ended up with coriander and chili besides lemongrass, garlic and ginger.  I chopped them all into some sort of paste mixture.  How much?  A lot.  Except for the chili as I only want a hint of chili flavor, not spicy hot grilled chicken.  I marinate it overnight as against all recipes I read that the vinegar will ‘cook’ the chicken.  I honestly believe the result is fantastic.  Cooking it in the oven for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes – set to bake for the 1st hour and fan-grill for the last 15 minutes – didn’t dry the chicken.  The photo may look like it’s well charred but it is surprisingly moist and juicy inside with flavorful crisp skin.  The meat thoroughly absorbed the flavors inside and out, and not too salty even though I added a generous amount of salt.  The vinegar and limejuice tenderize the meat and retain its juices while the rest provide that special Asian flavor.  The basting oil helps the marinade flavors cling to the meat while keeping it moist during cooking.

Ingredients:
Size 14 whole free-range chicken
Rock salt
Freshly ground gourmet pepper (or black pepper)

Paprika-infused olive oil basting:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp paprika (or annatto seeds)
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
A thumb of ginger, sliced and crushed

Additional ingredient to add to paprika oil (optional):
Approx. 2 tbsp melted butter

For the marinade:
Minced garlic
Finely chopped ginger
Finely chopped lemongrass
Minced chili
Chopped coriander
Approx. 1/4 cup lime juice
Approx. 1/3 cup vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp paprika-infused olive oil

Clean and butterfly chicken. Dry on paper towels and rub a generous amount of salt and freshly ground pepper all over chicken. Set aside while you prepare the basting oil and marinade.

Heat olive oil over medium heat. It should be hot but not until smoking hot.  Throw in garlic and ginger.  Turn off heat and remove from your hob if you think the temperature is too hot. Be careful not to burn the ginger and garlic.  Add paprika and stir.  The oil should be hot enough to absorb the flavors.  Transfer to a container and set aside until needed.

Prepare the marinade in a bowl.  Pour and rub all over chicken.  You may use a plastic storage bag or just a large bowl sealed with a plastic wrap. Marinate overnight.

Two hours before you plan to grill the chicken, add about 3 tbsp of paprika-infused oil to the marinade.  Give the chicken a good massage with the marinade. (Just showing off part of our lovely, hilly backyard.)

Pre-heat oven to 190 deg C. Arrange the butterflied chicken, skin side up, on a grill in a roasting pan.  Stab the chicken with a fork in few places then baste with paprika oil. Bake for about an hour, removing pan from the oven to baste chicken every 10 minutes alternately with paprika oil, melted butter and marinade.  After the first half hour, turn over the chicken so that the other side faces upwards.  This is also about the time I added baby potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika-infused oil.  Continue to baste chicken every 10 minutes for the next half hour.

After an hour, turn over the chicken so that skin side is up once more.  Baste with paprika oil then change the setting to fan-grill for the next 15 minutes.  Baste one more time halfway before that cooking time ends.  Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving or slicing.


FTFBadge

Oven-Grilled Chicken Inasal
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Filipino
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3-4
 
Ingredients
  • Size 14 whole free-range chicken
  • Rock salt
  • Freshly ground gourmet pepper (or black pepper)
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 2 tbsp paprika (or annatto seeds)
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
  • A thumb of ginger, sliced and crushed
  • Approx. 2 tbsp melted butter (optional)
  • Minced garlic
  • Finely chopped ginger
  • Finely chopped lemongrass
  • Minced chili
  • Chopped coriander
  • Approx. ¼ cup lime juice
  • Approx. ⅓ cup vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
  1. Clean and butterfly chicken. Dry on paper towels and rub a generous amount of salt and freshly ground pepper all over chicken. Set aside while you prepare the basting oil and marinade.
  2. Heat olive oil over medium heat. It should be hot but not until smoking hot. Throw in garlic and ginger. Turn off heat and remove from your hob if you think the temperature is too hot. Be careful not to burn the ginger and garlic. Add paprika and stir. The oil should be hot enough to absorb the flavors. Transfer to a container and set aside until needed.
  3. Prepare the marinade in a bowl. Pour and rub all over chicken. You may use a plastic storage bag or just a large bowl sealed with a plastic wrap. Marinate overnight.
  4. Two hours before you plan to grill the chicken, add about 3 tbsp of paprika-infused oil to the marinade. Give the chicken a good massage with the marinade. (Just showing off part of our lovely, hilly backyard.)
  5. Pre-heat oven to 190 deg C. Arrange the butterflied chicken, skin side up, on a grill in a roasting pan. Stab the chicken with a fork in few places then baste with paprika oil. Bake for about an hour, removing pan from the oven to baste chicken every 10 minutes alternately with paprika oil, melted butter and marinade. After the first half hour, turn over the chicken so that the other side faces upwards. This is also about the time I added baby potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika-infused oil. Continue to baste chicken every 10 minutes for the next half hour.
  6. After an hour, turn over the chicken so that skin side is up once more. Baste with paprika oil then change the setting to fan-grill for the next 15 minutes. Baste one more time halfway before that cooking time ends. Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving or slicing.
Notes
Preparation of paprika-infused oil is included in the prep time. Marinating time not included above.

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Iska
I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.

9 thoughts on “Oven-Grilled Chicken Inasal

  1. That is one sexy chicken! I miss grilled food – the always rainy weather here makes it difficult to grill outdoors, sadly, we don’t have an oven, too! If only LPG and electricity aren’t too expensive, I’d wish for us to have an oven, too.

    Hopping here thru Food Trip Friday.
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  2. wow, this is so delicious…looks so perfectly baked. love to try baking one, thanks for sharing your recipe! visiting from FF, hope to see you around. :)

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