Restaurant Troll Friday; Issue IV (Jerk Chicken)

Wednesday evening found me around 3D Cinema Magic at Metroplex Shopping Mall Naalya, waiting to quench my curiosity about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. As I was a whole hour early for the 7:15 pm screening, so I decided to grab a bite seeing as I hadn’t eaten a thing the whole.

At the mall food court, there’s an eatery that specializes in one thing, Jerk Chicken. Before then, I’d only eaten Jerk Chick twice. First at Cafe Java’s some time last year and then a few days later when I tried cooking it at home following a recipe I’d got from the internet.

This is how my Chicken turned out then

I perused through their long Jerk Chicken menu before I zeroed down on an order that comes with four pieces on meal 7, because the more the merrier, right?

Because I was here on a time sensitive matter, I needed to be sure how long it would be before my order would be served, and I was assured it wouldn’t take more than 7 minutes; they didn’t lie.

I had a short conversation with the waitress through which I learnt that the owner of the business is a Jamaican and they are opening up another branch along Namugongo road in Kyaliwajala. I tried to inquire about how they prepare their jerk recipe but the way the girl was blushing around the topic suggested to me that maybe it’s a trade secret. All she could say was that the chicken is marinated for about ten minutes before it’s boiled in the marinade then grilled. I can’t even be sure she was saying the truth or she actually knows what goes on in the kitchen, I just figured that if I was going to do this, I would have to look up my own recipe.

In less than 7 minutes, my food was on my table and it looked a little like this.

The food could have looked better, but given the time of day the picture was taken, this is the best I could do with my phone camera

In all honesty, the chicken was a little above average. It was okay, but nothing to write home about really. Not just because the chicken was much sweeter than spicy, but the rice was kinda drab, even for steamed rice. For the price though, I wouldn’t complain.

I came home and decided to give jerk chicken a second try at home and this is how preparation process went.For the Jerk Chicken, I used this recipe from BBC Good Food.

List of ingredients going clockwise starting with the 1. soy sauce 2. honey 3. ginger-garlic mix 4. all spice mix 5. Extra virgin olive oil 6. Green Onions 7. Green Chilies 8. Lemon juice and 8 chicken pieces in the middle.

Combined all the ingredients (with the exception of the chicken and blended

Poured marinade over the chicken and rubbed thoroughly until well mixed.

Covered, put in the fridge and let marinate overnight

To give it a better browning crust than I would have got by just baking, I put some oil in a pan and sizzled both sides of the chicken for about two minutes before transferring to the baking dish.

Brushed the baking pan with some olive oil then arranged the pieces on the pan skin-side up and threw into a preheated oven at 350 degree F for about 40 minutes

While my chicken baked, I prepared my Jamaican barbecue sauce following this recipe on the Food Network website.

My ingredients for the sauce starting with the soy sauce going clockwise; 1. Vinegar 2. Tomato Sauce 3. Green onions 4. Marinade left from the chicken 5. Honey and in the middle, a mixture of fresh ginger, garlic and green chili

Blend

Bring to a boil, then simmer for like ten minutes until it thickens slightly.

Chicken was now ready, and so was my steamed rice

Served my Jerk Chicken with my Jamaican bbq sauce along with steamed rice.

And that was my Jamaican Jerk Chicken experience.

So how much did it cost me to replicate this meal?

Chicken……………..2kg Ugachick packed pieces 19,000/= (serves 6)

I can’t cost the other ingredients because it’s assumed  these are condiments and spices you should have in your kitchen before you attempt to cook. A rough estimation of everything required would come to about 10,000 – 15,000 per 4 piece plate of food.

And finally, a side by side comparison.

The restaurant food

my own kitchen product