Thai BBQ Recipe | Grilled Chicken Marinated in Coconut Milk and Spices

    Thai bbq chicken on skewers
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    This Thai BBQ recipe is packed with delicious flavor from the bold Thai spices and coconut milk that’s used to marinate the chicken in. Grilling the chicken on a hot barbeque only adds to its delicious, slightly charred flavor.

    We love making this Thai bbq recipe when we’re looking for a way to mix things up with chicken. Like chicken satay, this Thai bbq recipe calls for dressing up chicken in a flavorful marinade and cooking the chicken on a hot grill.

    The chicken in this recipe gets fantastic flavor from the coconut milk, curry powder, garlic, and ginger that’s used to dress it. The coconut milk also does a wonderful job of tenderizing the chicken.

    We love serving this Thai bbq recipe with Thai sticky rice, but you could also pair the chicken with some grilled veggies for a low-carb version. Either way, this is a great recipe to serve up during a backyard party where you and your guests can gather around the grill and drool over this scrumptious dish!

    Summary

    Cook time: 55 minutes
    Prep time: 20 minutes
    Idle time: 4 hours
    Level
    Servings:
    Unit:

    Instructions

    1. Combine the coconut milk, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, curry powder, lemongrass, coriander root, sugar, and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth.
    2. Remove the backbone from the chicken. Lay the chicken skin side up on the work surface and flatten it gently. Cut the chicken in half. Arrange the chicken halves in a baking dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken and rub the marinade all over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.
    3. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set a rack over the baking sheet and arrange the chicken halves, cut side down, on the rack. Discard the excess marinade.
    4. Roast the chicken in the oven until it is almost cooked through, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly.
    5. Cut each chicken half into 4 pieces: 1 breast, 1 wing, 1 leg, and 1 thigh piece.
    6. Prepare the barbecue or grill pan for medium-high heat. Grill the chicken pieces until they are just cooked through and golden brown, about 10 minutes.
    7. Transfer the chicken to a platter and serve with the sticky rice and sweet chili sauce.

    Additional information

    Updated by Beeta Hashempour on 6/14/2018

    Jet Tila is a nationally renowned chef of all styles of Asian cuisine and host of Z Living's TV show Chasing The Yum. His passion for Asian food began at an early age. As a boy, he spent time learning the ancient traditions of classical Asian cuisine in family restaurants and at the Bangkok Market. At age 10, Jet realized his deep connection to food sprung from a deeper connection to his history; learning family traditions from his Cantonese grandmother further piqued his interest. In his early teens, Jet was making appetizers at his family’s restaurants. At 22, he was teaching cooking classes in his backyard a phenomenon that caught the attention of The Los Angeles Times. Chef Jet’s Le Cordon Bleu education, coupled with his extensive knowledge of Asian gastronomy, have given him a wide range of ideas to draw upon and a broad framework to craft incomparable and innovative cuisine. In culinary school, Jet began to develop his style by seeking novel and inventive ways to approach Eastern ingredients with classical French technique. He has also completed an intensive program of study at the California Sushi Academy. Chef Jet has written two cover pieces and several articles for the food section of The Los Angeles Times and has been featured in Los Angeles magazine. He has appeared on Food TV’s “The Best Of,” “Food Finds” and “The Secret Life Of”; The Learning Channel’s “No Reservations” with Chef Anthony Bourdain and “Take Home Chef”; HGTV’s “Smart Solutions” and “Weekend Entertaining”; PBS’s “Visiting With Huell Howser”; and is a frequent contributor to National Public Radio’s “Good Food” with Evan Kleiman. Chef Jet was awarded the Los Angeles Times best recipe of the year for his Tom Yum soup and his Tom Kha Gai soup was named one of the 10 best recipes of 2000. More recently, Jet was responsible for opening the Pacific Cafe at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley. He holds the Guinness World Record for the “World’s Largest Stirfry” at 1,805 pounds. Chef Jet is highly sought after to consult, teach cooking classes and cater meals; he is the Asian food consultant to the Bon Appetit management company.