Trinidad Stewed Chicken

30 mins Prep Time

45 mins Cook Time

Written By

Nadia Boachie

I had the wonderful pleasure of visiting Trinidad and Tobago this year and it was magnificent. It is a beautiful country with tremendous food, people, wildlife and nature. I tried so many dishes and was very happy to have the chance to see Trini Stew Chicken made, so I am sharing it with you. This is a modified version of Trini Stew Chicken that uses bell peppers and jalapeños instead of more traditional pimento peppers. Trini Stew chicken is what it sounds like, delicious stewed chicken that is loaded with flavourful aromatics. It gets its classic dark brown colour from brown sugar that is placed in the pot and heated until it is basically beginning to smoke but not burn. The chicken is seared in this piping hot sugar and cooked in its colourful marinade until it falls off the bone. Though bell peppers and jalapeños are used here, this recipe still gives the feel and a lot of the same flavour as the traditional recipe. Pimento peppers taste like Scotch bonnet peppers without the heat or very little heat and can be found at numerous Caribbean and Asian grocery stores in Toronto. If you want to make this recipe more traditional, just sub pimentos back in for bell peppers and jalapeños. Bell peppers and jalapeños give the final product a bit more of a "stewy" character in that there are more stewed veggies in your pot. With bell peppers and jalapeños, you have to take extra precaution not to add all of your marinade to your pot right away because of their high water content. Adding too much marinade while searing your chicken will hinder the browning of your chicken. Instructions for how to make the perfect Stew Chicken are written below and I can thank my new Trini friend Louis for teaching me just how it is done.

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade

8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
1 lime, to clean chicken
1 teaspoon salt or 1 chicken bouillon cube (optional)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
2 jalapeños, finely diced
3 green onions, split and diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 inches ginger, minced

To Cook

1 heaping tablespoon of ketchup
3 habaneros, whole
3 sprigs thyme
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

Directions

Trinidad Stewed Chicken

12 Steps

Step 1

Take your skinless chicken and squeeze the juice of a whole lime over it. Rinse under cold water until slimy texture of chicken is no longer there. If you do not start with skinless chicken, remember to skin your chicken first. You can use only thighs or a combo of thighs and drumsticks.
Step 2

Prep all your veggies and make sure to cut them very finely because you want them to stew down nicely. Prep your bell peppers, jalapeño, cilantro, green onion, onion, garlic, and ginger.
Step 3

Toss your your chopped veggies, herbs and aromatics on your washed clean chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Traditionally this is made with pimento peppers. If using pimento peppers, replace both bell peppers and jalapeños for about 300 grams of pimentos diced.
Step 4

In a pot, add 2 tablespoons of oil and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar.
Step 5

Allow your sugar to brown basically to the point of smoking but before it gets black or starts to burn.
Step 6

Add your chicken quickly to the pot of sugar and brown both sides for about 1 minute - 1 minute 30 seconds each side. Try not to add all the veggies for your marinade while your chicken first hits the pan because this will prevent browning.
Step 7

After your chicken has browned on both sides, add the rest of the veggies from your marinade and mix over lower heat.
Step 8

Let chicken simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes until veggies soften dramatically and chicken cooks.
Step 9

Add about a heaping tablespoon of ketchup and mix well, making sure to scrape bottom but not breaking up chicken pieces.
Step 10

There should be enough liquid from veggies to stew your chicken but if your chicken is drying out quickly, add about 1/3 cup of water only after your chicken and veggies have turned a dark brown colour.
Step 11

Taste and adjust seasoning and add bouillon cube if using. Be aware that bouillon cubes have a lot of salt and if you have added water OR if your veggies are not yet fully reduced, you want to be careful of over seasoning. This is a very flavourful dish so seasoning with salt alone is enough.
Step 12

Add thyme springs and whole habanero and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked, veggies are soft and the contents of your your whole pot are a beautiful dark brown. You can season with more salt if you need to.