itsdelicious2

Recipe : Chicken under a brick (Again, but this time really under a brick).

1 chicken

salt, pepper and paprika

Glaze

1 tbsp Korean Gochujang sauce

1 tbsp sweet chili sauce

1 tsp hot sauce

1 tbsp mayonnaise

First, you need to spatchcock the chicken. This means cutting it down the back and opening up like a book. 

Lay the chicken breast side down on a steady board with a tea towel underneath to prevent slipping.

Using a pair of kitchen scissors or a sharp knife, cut the chicken all the way down the backbone until you can open the chicken and lie it flat. I removed the breast bone also by feeling and cutting around the bone leaving the flesh intact, but it's not necessary to do this.

Season the chicken very well with salt, pepper and paprika and set aside until ready to cook.

To make the glaze, simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Cover and refrigerate until needed. 

 

The chicken under a brick was laid breast side down onto indirect heat at first.....

The completely normal house bricks were scrubbed then wrapped in foil and.....

....laid directly onto the chicken, pushing the flesh down onto the bars creating charred grilling marks and crispy skin.

Unfortunately some of the skin was torn away through the use of too fierce a flame, but the flesh itself takes on a crispy, golden hue which intensifies the savoury, umami tastes and gives you a very tasty bird.

The glaze contained sugar which can burn as soon as you look away to reach for your drink, so a little scraping was required. If you look carefully at the chicken you can see that he is one winged, something usually stated on the wrapping: 'This chicken may be missing a limb'. Not this time, so his deformity was something of a shock and a disappointment, wings being the crispiest, tastiest morsels to gnaw on.

The chicken, shredded. In the end, most of the skin blistered and burnt as mentioned earlier, although a few choice pieces remained. The flesh inside was relatively juicy, but no more so than if the chicken had been roasted. The glaze added a little sweetness that everyone commented on but I think the two previous attempts (here and here), were more successful as the thighs used can be flattened more successfully. I have also seen a chef on TV use a smaller chicken and a frying pan for this which resulted in mahogany glazed skin and moist flesh. I think my curiosity is satiated for now.