Mi Pollo Á La Brasa

Pollo à la brasa is a Peruvian style of rotisserie chicken that you can get all over Washington, D.C. and New York City, but is not very widely available here in Philadelphia. There are two places I found listed, but they are far from me and fairly inconvenient to get to, and two places not too far from me that are much more readily accessible. After doing some research and asking some of my ‘in the know’ friends I chose to get some take-out from a place in Ardmore, just outside the city limits of Philadelphia called Inka Wall.  And to make things interesting I scoured the internet for recipes to make my own, and decided to do a taste test.

The conditions for my taste test are admittedly not scientific, and very subjective, as my tasting panel was composed of just one person—me. Nonetheless I felt qualified to make an evaluation, and though there are some differences, I felt mine was as good or better on enough key factors that I feel confident in saying you should try making your own at home.  I paid $10.00 for a quarter of a chicken with white rice and a salad from Inka Wall. I also imagine many of you don’t have even inconvenient access to Peruvian chicken, so making your own is the only way you’re going to get to enjoy it.

To make things fair, I ordered a leg quarter, and made my chicken using  four thighs. I marinated mine overnight (I have no idea how long they marinated theirs), I brought theirs home (a half hour trip) and obviously mine was freshly cooked. To be fair, when I arrived at the restaurant slightly before noon, I had to wait as they were just taking the chickens off the rotisserie. Mine was made in the oven (I don’t have a rotisserie) on a rack. My marinade has brown sugar, and it was sweeter than theirs, on that criteria I preferred theirs, but I could easily reduce the sugar in my recipe. Mine was much juicier, maybe as a result of marination, maybe mine cooked a little less time, though both seemed cooked to similar temperatures, based on doneness. Both had a strong lime flavor (good) and though theirs was a bit saltier, both were salty in a good way. The skin on mine was crisper, but I think that is a function of theirs spending 30 minutes in a Styrofoam box (I would recommend they perforate their boxes to keep skin crispy).

Dueling Pollos

If you’ve never had pollo à la brasa, you should try this recipe, it is easy and a nice change from plain roast chicken. Though I used chicken thighs you could use any cuts, including a whole chicken. I don’t recommend using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but then again I never recommend using those unless you are doing something with poached chicken, such as chicken salad. For this recipe you need to make sure you get the marinade under the skin to really let the flavors permeate the meat. And if you don’t have a rotisserie, you need to use a rack to elevate the chicken, whether you’re using pieces or a whole bird.

Pollo Á La Brasa

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Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs (or 1 whole 3-4 lb. chicken)
• 2 Limes (Juiced)
• 4 cloves Garlic (peeled)
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Step 1

Combine all ingredients (except chicken) in the bowl of a food processor, and blend until smooth.

Step 2

Dry chicken well, and loosen the skin, making sure to leave it attached to pieces

Step 3

Pour marinade over chicken, making sure marinade gets under the skin Cover and refrigerate for several hours, ideally, overnight

Step 4

Preheat oven to 400 Using a flat rack for pieces, or a V rack for a whole chicken, spray with non-stick spray, or brush with oil Line pan with foil, and place rack on pan, and chicken on rack

Step 5

Cook at 400 for fifteen minutes, then lower heat to 325, and roast for another twenty minutes for pieces, and an hour for a whole chicken Serve with rice