The respectful and somber Memorial Day remembrances (very appropriately) upcoming three days from today duly noted, for many of us the Memorial Day weekend has also been a time to gather with friends or family to welcome the summer season and eat good food cooked over fire.
Our family clan has spent a fair number of these weekends feeding long-time friend and mentor Ed, though one Memorial Day weekend 9 or 10 years ago stands out.
It was back when we were still running the horse farm back in the Flathead (read shoveling lots of horse puckey) that we received an urgent missive from Ed, who was due to visit in a few days.
He’d been somewhere in the Southeast (Atlanta I think) and had eaten grilled chicken skewers, some sort of magical Asian fusion creation, with a sweet, fiery hot, sticky glaze he swore (as he often does) was the greatest invention since man first stood upright and started using fiberglass sticks to cast flies. (If he reads these, Cam Mortenson just smiled. I should introduce Ed to Cam…)
Ed had pestered the staff for some version of the recipe, scrawled it on the back of the envelope in his pocket and faxed it over (my how times change) for us to decipher. It took some fiddling and some annoying kitchen meddling on Ed’s part, but we finally hit his target with this one.
You wouldn’t think it would need the molasses – Ed is convinced it’s better with it in there – and the minced garlic clove at first glance seems like a bridge clove too far with the chili garlic paste, but it really does work.
For the Fire Breathers out there, use a hot chili paste (more Sriracha or one of the blazingly hot small batch brands) instead of the toned down chili garlic paste, though be warned that makes these skewers pretty damned spicy. Finally, Ed claims these should only be made with thighs, though breast meat is wonderful as is skirt steak marinated and glazed with Ed’s Sweet Fire sauce.
You’ll need some well chilled adult beverages, some fancied-up rice and a couple of grilled pineapples to accompany these too.
1 scant cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned)
1/2 cup chili garlic paste (see ‘For the Fire Breathers’)
1/2 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup Sriracha
2 tbsp. molasses
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. peeled, minced fresh ginger3 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs and breasts (your call, we do both to please the crowd), cut into 2 inch pieces
Make the marinade / glaze. Stir together the brown sugar, rice vinegar, chili garlic paste, fish sauce, Sriracha and ginger; mix well until the brown sugar has dissolved. Divide the marinade / glaze in half; add the chicken pieces to one part and let rest in the fridge for at least an hour, better if 2-4 hours.
Make fire, drain the marinating chicken, thread onto skewers. Place the reserved marinade / glaze in a small saucepan, heat it just to boiling, turn down to a simmer and reduce to a generous one cup (8 minutes or so for us).
Grill time. Grill the chicken, turning more frequently than usual given the sugar content of the marinade, for 8-10 minutes until done, brushing near the end with just a bit of the reduced glaze.
Get it on the table quickly, with the rest of the reduced glaze available as a drizzle. Don’t count on any leftovers.
Enjoy.
