Haitian Marinade
Marinade is a special sauce used to help enhance theflavor of meat as you cook it. Haitians almost always use marinade on theirfish, pork, and beef as they cook them. You can prepare marinade in a number ofdifferent ways. In most cases, they will contain herbs, spices, oils, andvinegar. The difference between the various marinades pertain to which types ofherbs and spices they contain. Haitian marinade are traditionally family recipes. If youtalked to any Haitian native, they could probably tell you stories about howtheir mother or grandmother made the best Haitian marinade ever. For manynative Haitians, the spices and herbs they used in their marinade were based onwhat they could grow on their land. That is why the recipes of marinadedifferent slightly throughout Haiti. Another reason that Haitian marinade recipes differslightly is due to the meat being prepared. Some marinade recipes go betterwith certain types of meat. The following Haitian marinade is recommended forchicken and all Haitian meals that contain chicken in them.
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 lb of Chicken(with bone)
- 1 Full Head of Garlic
- 6 Leeks or Green Onions
- 1 Onion
- 1 Bell Pepper
- 2 Piment Bouc
- 1 Fresh Thyme
- 1 Fresh Parsley
- Salt & Pepper
- Sour Orange Juice
- Key Lime Juice
Pâte à frire:
- 1 ½ Cup of Flour
- 1 Cup of Water
- Cooked Chicken Juice
- 1 Pinch of Baking Soda
Instructions
- In the first step,you’ll need to prepare the seasoning or “Haitian epis.” Grab a large bowl andadd the sour orange juice, salt, pepper, and other preferred seasonings. Stirthem all together.It should take you approximately two hours to prepare theentire recipe. The actual cooking time is only 20 minutes, but the resting timerecommended is two hours for the food. So, keep that in mind.
- Put the chicken meat in a cooking pot and apply the juices of theseasonings to the meat. Let the meat marinate for 2 to 3 hours.
- Now cook the chicken meat on the stove with the remaining juices inplace. Wait for the meat to change color and you will know it is cooked.
- When the chicken meat is fully cooked, the next step is to add thebatter. You need to mix together water, flour and baking soda to make thebatter. Use a separate bowl for making the batter. Add the cooking juices fromthe chicken to the batter.
- Cut up the chicken and add it to the batter. Leave it alone there for afew hours. Then heat up some oil in a frying pan on the stove and drop thechicken pieces into it. Wait for the marinade to change into a golden-browncolor.
- Please note: Even though thereare seasonings and spices that go into the Haitian Marinade recipe, themarinade itself is not technically a seasoning. The job of the marinade is toamplify the taste of the meat on the inside as well as the outside. That issomething different than merely applying seasoning to the surface of the meatand then eating it like that. Marinade allows the inside of the meat to absorbthe seasoning juices. That is why it is better to marinate the meat. The Haitian marinade should be served hot when it is onthe chicken meat.
Video
Notes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
