Andy Allen's Jerk Chicken Skewers – Get On The Tongs

Jerk chicken skewers with chimichurri, by Andy Allen

Ingredients

Jerk marinade 

• 1 brown onion
• 4 spring onions
• 1 habenero chilli, remove the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy 
• 3 garlic cloves
• 5 thyme sprigs, leaves removed
• Roots and stems from half a bunch of coriander
• 100g brown sugar
• 50g apple cider vinegar
• 75g soy sauce
• Juice and zest of half an orange
• Juice and zest of a lime
• 1 tbs allspice
• ½ tbs ground coriander
• ½ tbs ground cinnamon
• 1 tbs salt flakes

Jerk butter

• 100g jerk marinade 
• 100g unsalted butter

Chimichurri 

• ½ bunch coriander, finely chopped
• ½ bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 1 long red chilli, seeds removed and finely diced
• ¼ red onion, finely diced
• ½ garlic clove, minced
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 4tbs olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. For the Jerk marinade, place everything into a blender and blend on high until smooth. 
2. Cut the chicken thighs into 2cm chunks and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Reserve 100g of the jerk marinade for the jerk butter and then pour the rest over the chicken. 
3. Give it good old mix so that each piece of chicken is coated in the marinade and leave to marinate for as long as you can. Over night would be epic. Thread the chicken onto the skewers making sure each one has around 100g of meat on it. 
4. For the jerk butter, throw the reserved jerk marinade and the butter into a pan. Bring it up to a simmer and then let it tick away for about 45 minutes until it’s nice and caramelised. 
   
5. For the chimichurri, once all the ingredients are prepped, mix it all together in a small bowl and season it up with salt and pepper.
6. Preheat your bbq to a medium-high heat. Lightly oil the hot plate and then  whack on the skewers. Give them a good season with salt and then cook for around seven minutes, turning so that each side of the chicken is nicely caramelised. Just before you take the skewers off, give them a decent brush with the jerk butter. 
7. Once they come off, transfer them to your serving plate or platter and scatter over the chimichurri.