A delicious Dominican
fried chicken recipe
'Chicharrones de Pollo'

Chicharrones de pollo - is a popular chicken recipe in the Dominican Republic – and sure to be just as popular with your dinner party guests too! This Dominican fried chicken dish will be most appreciated if all the ingredients used are fresh. An organic or corn fed chicken is superb for this deliciously simple recipe...so here it is...

For this chicken recipe, first cut the raw bird into pieces and wash them well. Typically the bird is divided as follows: winglets (2 per bird); drumlets (2 per bird); each breast into 2 or 3 evenly sized pieces (4 - 6 pieces total); legs into drumstick and thigh portions (4 pieces) - giving 12 - 14 pieces in all.

Place the chicken in a large bowl and pour on the lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and half the salt. Stir it all around well and ensure the meat is covered evenly with the 'marinade', then leave it to rest for at least half an hour (preferably in the fridge).

Sift the flour with salt and paprika together. You are going to coat the chicken pieces with this mix and an easy way to do this is to put the 'coating' mix in plastic bag. Place the chicken pieces one or two at a time in the bag and shake gently until coated. Retrieve each piece and place on a plate making sure the pieces aren't touching each other. Continue doing this for all the pieces. Ideally you should then repeat the process after dipping each piece in the remaining marinade. This flour and spice coating will give a nice crisp savoury finish to the fried chicken pieces if they are well coated.

Put the oil in a frying or sauté pan and heat until just before it smokes (quite hot) you can test it's hot enough by dropping in a 1cm cube of bread - it should immediately sizzle briskly. Now place all the pieces of chicken into the pan (don't forget to remove the fried bread!), ideally place the pieces so that they are not crowding each other/touching.

The pieces should sizzle nicely for several minutes. Check they are not browning/blackening, adjust the heat slightly if necessary. You will need to cook them for about 5 minutes on each side. If necessary add a little more oil (not too much at a time or it will cool it too much. Remember to compensate by turning the heat up for a while if you do this.)

Ensure that the thicker pieces of chicken have a minute or two longer than the rest. Always pierce ONE thick piece with a skewer or small sharp knife to ensure the meat is well cooked (El Jefe's 'Chicken recipe tip': Eat the test piece as the "chef's perk" if you have enough chicken to spare! This essential tasting process is imperative to good cooking I always say! ;-D)

If you need to hold the chicken for a while before service, place it on a baking tray lined with kitchen paper towel to absorb surplus oil and place in an oven at 100oC. This chicken recipe should be OK held for up to 15/20 minutes in a warm oven if necessary.

When you serve Chicharrones de Pollo place the hot pieces on a warmed plate or platter along with the lime wedges – which should be squeezed over the chicken just at the last minute before crunching into it - this gives that authentic finishing touch to this simple chicken recipe!

Enjoy it!

'El Jefe'