I love the flavors in Thai food…but I don’t enjoy extreme heat and my wife needs to avoid garlic and gluten. So this is my more balanced version of a Thai grilled chicken dish that is a real tasty change of pace from the standard grilled chicken at cookouts. This recipe also works in the oven.
3 lbs. pastured or organic chicken pieces (I used drumsticks for this recipe)
2/3 cup soy sauce (I use La Choy soy sauce to keep things gluten-free)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or crushed dried chiles
1 teaspoon salt
For the marinade, combine the soy sauce, cilantro, canola oil, granulated garlic and white pepper in a food processor and let it run. Place the chicken pieces in a Ziploc bag and pour half of the marinade in. Save the other half for basting later. Seal the bag and let the chicken marinate in the fridge overnight, or at room temperature for a few hours, squishing the bag around so that all the chicken gets marinated.
For the sauce, combine the sugar, white vinegar, pepper flakes and salt in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and make sure the sugar dissolves. Remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
After marinating overnight, discard the used marinade in the Ziploc bag. Place chicken pieces over a hot hardwood fire or bake them in an oven at 350, basting them with the leftover marinade until fully cooked. If the coal fire gets too hot, move the chicken to a cooler part of the grill to prevent burning. If using the oven, switch to the broiler at the end to give the chicken a nice char.
Serve the chicken with the sweet pepper sauce drizzled on top.
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