Pollo ala Brassa, aka 'Peruvian Chicken'

[Chasing_smoke]

Is it odd that I want a rotisserie just to try this recipe?? Great work guys I love this thread!


"my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[Chasing_smoke]

Is it odd that I want a rotisserie just to try this recipe?? Great work guys I love this thread!


"my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[edhead35]

Is it odd that I want a rotisserie just to try this recipe?? Great work guys I love this thread!


"my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

not odd at all. Of course most of my disposable income goes to cooking related stuff.

[mike.stavlund]

I know what you mean, CS!  I'm leaving for the weekend (and away from the internets), but I'm tempted to stick around here just to see how Ed's cook turns out. 

Oh, well, maybe I can take some chook for a spin next week. 

[edhead35]

Cook underway. Here is a sneak peek.

The greener or darker one is the huacatay and aji salsa version, the browner or say redder one is the version I posted from BBQ about.com









Looks like one of my wing tips popped out.

[edhead35]

I need another set of rotisserie forks. For sure.

[edhead35]

So the results were unanimous. Everyone loved the huacatay-aji paste recipe more, but loved the acidity and saltiness of the recipe I posted up from bbq.about.com, however there were reasons. They found the huacatay-aji recipe more "latin" tasting, because they were expecting latin. If posed with either chicken on separate days, they all loved both and especially if I could balance the salt more on the huacatay-aji pollo a la brassa.

I wasn't 100% happy with the results, because I had some trouble with the heat, it dropped part way through, and I lost the crispy skin. It was quite gooey.


The one on the left in both pics is the huacatay-aji.

[pbe gummi bear]

Whoa, nice! Your fire is pretty close too. How did it taste?

[edhead35]

Taste was amazing, but I need to be more proactive on keeping the heat higher, so I lost the crispy skin. If I used smaller chickens it would have been perfect, or make a larger charcoal basket I dont have to feed 3 times.

Dinner was so late, I was really really drunk before the food was done. Margarita night

[colin.p]

Dinner was so late, I was really really drunk before the food was done. Margarita night

Ha ha. Been there done that, but oh baby does it taste good.

[mike.stavlund]

Thanks for sharing your results, Ed.  That looks incredible.  And I think that huacatay-aji bird looks very, very similar to the ones I see at the restaurants.  Nice work.  Can't wait to try it. 

So would you add a bit more acid and salt to the huacatay-aji recipe?  How much?  And what kind of acid?  I was thinking about using some lime juice in the marinade. 

(I added half as much salt as the recipe called for to the 'standard' recipe, and found it to still be a bit bland.  I'm guessing Ed added a bit more than that.)

[edhead35]

Definitely some lime juice and white vinegar.

[mike.stavlund]

Will do, Ed!  Thanks a million. 

I've got two chickens in the fridge, eagerly awaiting the treatment. 

[mike.stavlund]

...just tucked a bird into the huacatay-aji marinade, which I fortified with another half lime and another pinch of salt.  The marinade looked and smelled incredible.  Looking forward to dinner tomorrow!

[OGlenn]

I broke the cherry on my new roti this evening with a couple of these.  Still using the first recipe listed as there aren't any decent latin markets up here in bland-land, so until I take a trip to a real city, I'm going with  that (using achiote, lime juice and jalopena to the marinade for a little more kick). Definitely looks prettier than my beer can method, and so damn moist... how have I lived so long without a rotisserie? Will be going in for seconds shortly.