For the Chicken:
Dark meat chicken (legs, thighs, or wings) 🍗
Salt 🧂
Black pepper 🌶️
Green seasoning (a blend of fresh herbs and spices) 🌿
For the Browning Sauce:
1 cup brown sugar 🍬
½ cup water 💧
For Cooking:
Oil (for browning the chicken) 🛢️
1 onion, sliced 🧅
1 tablespoon chopped garlic 🧄
1 scotch bonnet pepper (for heat) 🌶️
2 sprigs escallion (chopped) 🥒
1 carrot, diced 🥕
1 potato, diced 🥔
Soy sauce (a splash) 🍶
Ketchup (a splash) 🍅
Water (1½ to 2 cups, or use chicken stock for more flavor) 💧
Traditional Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken Recipe
Method nof making
for Bron stew chicken I really love using dark meat chicken breast is great too but legs thighs and even wings are much harder to overcook and have much richer flavors in a classic brown stew the meat was always cut into bite-sized pieces that way a lot more of the flavor infuses into the gravy Brown seew is closely tied to Jamaica’s African Heritage even today similar seew are made in West and central Africa it took African traditions and Blended them with indigenous ingredients like all spice and used sugar which was readily available to Brown the meat and create Rich caramelized flavors this technique isn’t just great for chicken it was traditionally used for tougher cuts of meat like oxtail to make them tender and packed with flavor Brown sou can also be adopted for more tender proteins
like fish where the cooking time is much shorter but you still get those delicious deep flavors the rich Browning and the spices work beautiful with fish giving you that same bold comforting taste without the longer cooking process it’s a great way to enjoy the essence of brown stew while keeping it light and quick once I’ve chopped up the chicken I can go ahead and season it with some black pepper and salt now let’s talk about green seasoning I’ve got a detail guide on making it and it’s definitely worth a watch it’s one of my more entertaining videos green season is simply a blend of fresh local herbs and spices traditionally these were chopped and added to the chicken
Traditional Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken Recipe
to marinate it but with this season you get all those flavors in one go a couple tablespoons should work but you can always add a little extra without causing any harm up next is the Browning now there are a few different ways to approach this for this recipe I made homemade Browning the traditional way alternatively you can purchase commercial Browning but there are some important differences both will color your meat but that’s probably where the similarities end I’ve linked a video where I deep dive into those differences definitely check it out if you’re interested another technique is caramelizing the sugar directly in the a before adding the chicken this method can give great results but it requires some skill and finish to get it just right every time for consistency the most reliable method to achieve the perfect color and flavor is homemade Browning it’s incredibly simple just a cup of brown
sugar and/ cup of water on medium low heat start with the brown sugar in a stainless steel pan next simply let it melt and start to caramelize use low heat for better control eventually the sugar will get fry and start to smoke the aim is to achieve a deep Brown almost black color as soon as the perfect color is achieved simply kill that heat and add the half cup of water as soon as the sugar is completely dissolved removed from the fire and cool unlike commercial Browning homemade Browning adds not only color but complex flavors and Smoky notes a couple big drizzles is enough to achieve the flavor and color that Browning is known for yes homemade Browning is
Traditional Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken Recipe
really great give the chicken a mix to distribute everything and introduce all those flavors this could probably take another drizzle of Browning if I was using the store bought stuff I would have to make it a lot darker than I have it here with homemade Browning the chicken gets progressively darker as it cooks that color is perfect next I’m going to let this marinate in the fridge for a few hours 30 minutes to an hour is enough to get those flavors going but ideally overnight is best for the deepest flavors I don’t recommend marinating for more than 24 hours especially if your marinade has a lot of acid like lime juice or vinegar too much acid can degrade the meat and change its texture making it mushy instead of tender next up we have to Brown the meat this step adds that extra
depth of flavor and enhances the texture of the skin start with a splash of oil in a hot pan and high heat then add the pieces of chicken making sure the skin makes contact with the pan for that rich caramelized finish a key reason for Browning the chicken especially with the skin on is to also slightly change the texture since most people aren’t fans of soft chicken skinning stews Browning helps crisp it up and creates a more appealing texture in the finished dish once the chicken is sufficiently browned we can go ahead and remove them next add one slice onion about a tablespoon of chopped garlic once scat it for some early heat about two Springs of Cho skeleion one diced carrot
Traditional Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken Recipe
keep it moving so we don’t burn anything and one diced Potato by the end of the stew the potato and carrot will partially break down adding flavor texture and thickening the brown stew gravy once the vegetables are properly Brown add back the brown chicken along with all the marinade and resting juices that smells amazing homemade Browning gives this a distinct sweet Aroma that I really love next add a splash of soy sauce and a splash of ketchup traditionally fresh tomatoes will be sauteed with the other veggies to give this stew great texture and flavor Tomatoes currently cost more than chicken and other meat so I’m using tomato ketchup as a more economical
substitute it still provides the acidity needed to enhance all the flavors then add water I rined out the balll to capture all the flavors Left Behind You could also use chicken stock for a more Savory Kake this won’t take long to cook so be conservative with the liquid that’s probably about a cup and a half to 2 cups of water finally cover and let it simmer until the chicken is tender this usually takes around 30 minutes what’s your favorite side to have with brown seew chicken drop a comment down below once the chicken is tender we can go ahead and reason the stew
Traditional Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken Recipe
add a bit of chop skeleion half a onion sliced fresh thyme and slic sweet pepper adding Fresh Veggies like these at the end of the stew gives a fresh layer flavor over the mature stewed flavors making for a much more delicious dish and that is it one delicious pot of old time brown stew chicken this recipe brings back nostalgic memories from my childhood you can leave the chicken in whole pieces instead of chopping it up it actually cuts the prep time down significantly if you try this recipe come back and let me know how it turned out I love to hear about any modifications you made on your overall experience Brown Su chicken has an intense rich and savory flavor and it’s a longtime favorite for good reasons I’m serving this with some delicious gungo rice and peas
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