Stew Chicken
- Total Time
- About 2 hours, plus 2 hours' marinating
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 5pounds bone-in chicken thighs or chicken leg quarters
- 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
- 1teaspoon ground clove
- 1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1tablespoon tomato paste
- 1tablespoon ketchup
- 4garlic cloves, crushed
- 1½teaspoons ground allspice
- 11-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped (about 1 tablespoon, or use 2 teaspoons powdered ginger)
- 1medium onion, quartered
- 4scallions, white and green parts, roughly chopped
- 1bay leaf
- 5pieces of culantro (a Caribbean herb also known as chadon beni) or whole sprigs of cilantro, chopped
- 5sprigs fresh thyme (or use 3 teaspoons dried leaves)
- 4tablespoons white vinegar
- ½Scotch bonnet pepper (or use habanero)
- 1tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4tablespoons sugar
- 2tablespoons flour, more as needed, for dusting chicken
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
709 calories; 50 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 49 grams protein; 858 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Remove skin and trim fat from chicken. If using leg quarters, cut chicken into serving-size pieces. (Each chicken leg should yield about four pieces.) If using thighs, you can leave them whole.
- Step 2
Make the marinade: In a food processor or blender combine salt, clove, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, garlic, allspice, ginger, onion, scallions, whole bay leaf, culantro or cilantro, whole thyme sprigs, vinegar and Scotch bonnet pepper. (You should have about 2 cups marinade.)
- Step 3
In a large bowl, combine chicken and marinade, ensuring all chicken pieces are coated. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. (For best results, marinate overnight.)
- Step 4
Heat oven to 325 degrees, and keep the chicken close to the stove. In an oven-safe pot large enough to hold the chicken comfortably (such as a Dutch oven), add oil and 3 tablespoons sugar and heat over medium until the sugar starts foaming and eventually changing color; this is the beginnings of your caramel. Cook until caramel is a rich, very dark brown, but not burned. (The caramel may start smoking as it darkens.)
- Step 5
Quickly add chicken pieces to the pot, moving them around until they are fully coated with caramel. Add any remaining marinade in the bowl to the pot. Dust chicken with flour to fully coat pieces. At this point there shouldn't be much liquid in the pot; it should have a thick, pasty consistency. If any liquid remains, sprinkle more flour over the chicken.
- Step 6
Add enough water to cover ¾ of the chicken. (The tops of the pieces should barely peek out of the water.) Stir to incorporate all ingredients. Cover pot, transfer to oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
- Step 7
Check chicken for doneness. Once chicken is cooked, taste and add salt if necessary. Add remaining 1 tablespoon sugar to balance flavor.
- Step 8
Let stew rest for about 30 minutes before serving, or make it ahead and store it in the fridge for the following day; stew chicken tastes even better the day after. Serve with rice (or other grain, such as quinoa) and beans.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Emily Weinstein
Hello Frank, we received a note from the chef, Rawlston Williams, who agreed that we should decrease the amount of clove. The recipe used to call for 1 tablespoon of clove; it now calls for a teaspoon.
Inquisigal
Glad to hear all the suggestions for great spots in the Comments section here. I too was shocked to read that this is a "new" food movement; having lived near Fulton St in Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill for the past 15 years, I can attest that Caribbean culture and food has dominated this part of BK for a long time. Come on NY Times, you've got to be more sensitive about how these kinds of stories are written: just because some chefs with pedigrees are now making this cuisine available in fine-dining restaurants and newly-hip venues like street trucks and Smorgasburg, doesn't make it a new food movement. It's insulting to those who have been doing it well for years in NYC, and shows such a slant in the tone of the article, and this newspaper in general, to only report on trends that are being sanctified by the cultured, Manhattan-Brooklyn elite. Let's hear more about the women and men who run super-tasty food venues like those mentioned in the Comments....
Duva
NYC area is one of the centers of black, Latino, and Indian Caribbean culture in the United States. That being said, Miss Lily's hires Mr Schop as head chef, with admitted limited experience with Caribbean cuisine? An area with thousands of immigrant, first and second generation West Indians, with dozens of pre-existing West Indian eateries, no chef among them could be found? It is telling who gets the jobs in these "new" Caribbean restaurants. Far from being new, Caribbean food has been staple of NY cuisine in homes, churches, and businesses for decades.
Elle
Mary Beth, you'd have to justify your data, for I see nothing in this recipe to correlate your figures per serving. This looks like a dish that would serve at least 6 -8 people. I would allow that the salt and sugar could be cut back and not compromise flavor. The dish calls for chicken fat to be removed.
SMB
Leaving the bone in while cooking chicken imparts some flavor, I think, as well as keeping the meat from drying out as much.
Sush
I made this yesterday.
The results were more like a variation of jerk chicken.
Not like the Trinidadian Stewed Chicken I remember which I remember contained no cloves, no Tomato paste, no allspice or vinegar or even ginger.
Gracy
The halved leg is then quartered. I grew up in a Caribbean household--we ate smaller quantities of meat. If you look at the picture accompanying the recipe, you'll notice smaller chunks of meat not whole legs and thighs.
Renorose
Made it as is and it tasted good. Next time only a wee pinch of clove and a whole habañero. Served over saffron rice with barberries. Will do again!
JV
I ran the calorie calculation on My Fitness Pal and it calculated 177 calories for each of 6 servings. Often the "Cooking" calculation is for the whole recipe, despite the statement that the amount is per serving.
Mary Beth
At almost a thousand calories, 65 grams of fat and nearly 2,000mg of sodium, this dish undoubtedly tastes amazing. But, ouch!
Drew
Each leg *quarter* would yield ... not four pieces, but two, correct? The leg quarter is a leg and a thigh, so if you're saying leave the thigh whole, then a leg quarter would yield two pieces.
John
I should have read the notes about decreasing the cloves - one teaspoon would be sufficient. Dish was actually bland, even with a full habanero pepper blended in the marinade. Next time I will cut back on the water. Last - cutting up the chicken parts into smaller pieces is very difficult without a cleaver or serious knife. I used thighs and leg drumsticks (pulled from the freezer) - they were fine as-is.
John
The instructions in step one are confusing, but I think you are correct. Each leg quarter consists of a drumstick and a thigh--that's two pieces when cut apart, not four as stated in step one. If the thighs are left whole, then it would make sense that the drumstick would be left whole as well. Maybe the author means that the leg quarters from one chicken would yield 4 pieces?
Gracy
you actually need the sugar or else the meat won't sufficiently brown. it's about that rich color and not sweetness.
Frank
Tasty, but waaaaay to heavy on the cloves. Sure it's not one tsp of cloves?
Mark Lynn
I found culantro at my local market when shopping for sour oranges. It's a new favorite.
Tiffany Grissette
This sounds so delicious. I am hosting a rum tasting tomorrow evening and am thinking of making this dish. Do you think it would go good with the rum?
Lee
Still too much Cloves - maybe 1/4 teaspoon will be enough. Also feel free to skip the marination if you don't have time - still delicious! Add a few pounds of collards greens for a veg!
arlyn
Fabulous. I used powdered spices. Made a half-recipe and used a BIG Dutch oven. Turned out perfect.
Jonathan R.
The spice blend is ON POINT. I didn't have the same troubles with the water that others had, but note that water level can be tricky in wide pots. In mine, 1/2-inch of water is equivalent to 2/3 c.; this could make or break the meal. If it's too runny after coming out of the oven, just put it on the stove uncovered and let the water simmer out. Use the whole bonnet, and feel free to add white pepper, black pepper, and/or extra cilantro! IMO you don't need the flour or the last Tbsp. of sugar.
Erin
Would it work to freeze this? We go camping with a crowd each 4th of July and need to take most food frozen.
Jonathan R.
My two cents: it could be frozen, but it's not really good camping food. It's a bit of a mess in prep and I can't see reheating it going well. That said, maybe just take raw chicken marinated in the sauce; it would make excellent grilling.
Jim
Terrible. Perhaps worst meal ever. In reading other comments, I should have used A LOT less water. I've thoroughly enjoyed the recipes from the NY Times, but I don't understand the positive reviews on this recipe. Not sure if it's my tastes or how I cooked it. Try one of the other recipes, not this one.
Carolyn
Terrible recipie. I grew up in Trinidad West Indies; there is NO flour in stew chicken. The caramelisation of the chicken is critical to the final outcome and unique flavour. The chicken has to absolutely brown ( after scraping off the marinade) which is added back to the pot after browning. Way too much shadon beni this her has a strong grassy taste adding 5 blades is over kill.
Leanne
This was a gorgeous stew chicken meal. I made steamed cabbage, rice and peas, and sweet plantain as sides....DELICIOUS. I also re seasoned near the end of cooking time and let stew chicken sit a day before eating. So worth the wait. Butcher definitely had to cut those chicken leg quarters though.
Hannah
use the whole pepper and DON'T add this much water! Tasty once I got it right. I halved the recipe for my single-news and used a small, deep Dutch oven. First time I added the 3/4 of water, and it was a soupy mess. Second time I added about a cup of water, about 1/4 of Dutch oven, and the results were much better. If you're using habeneros (all we have in Alaska grocery stores), follow the advice of some other commenters and place the whole seeded pepper in during the oven phase.
Sush
I made this yesterday.
The results were more like a variation of jerk chicken.
Not like the Trinidadian Stewed Chicken I remember which I remember contained no cloves, no Tomato paste, no allspice or vinegar or even ginger.
John
I should have read the notes about decreasing the cloves - one teaspoon would be sufficient. Dish was actually bland, even with a full habanero pepper blended in the marinade. Next time I will cut back on the water. Last - cutting up the chicken parts into smaller pieces is very difficult without a cleaver or serious knife. I used thighs and leg drumsticks (pulled from the freezer) - they were fine as-is.
Mike Dill
I love this recipe. Gonna try it with a whole seeded scotch bonnet pepper
german
Mofongo agsin!? Have you tried serenata de bacalao or guanimes con mojo isleño or almojabanas with salmorejo de jueyes. It is unbelievable that after being here for iver 100 years, the NYT can only quote the most pedestrian of PR dishes: mofongo.
Renorose
Made it as is and it tasted good. Next time only a wee pinch of clove and a whole habañero. Served over saffron rice with barberries. Will do again!
Frank
Tasty, but waaaaay to heavy on the cloves. Sure it's not one tsp of cloves?
Emily Weinstein
Hello Frank, we received a note from the chef, Rawlston Williams, who agreed that we should decrease the amount of clove. The recipe used to call for 1 tablespoon of clove; it now calls for a teaspoon.
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