Do you want to make Chicken Inasal at home better than Mang Inasal? Then you have landed at the right spot. Our perfect Chicken Inasal Recipe will make you transcend all the geographical boundaries and take you to the streets of Iloilo. Resembling Roast Chicken or Jerk Chicken, Chicken Inasal is prepared with different spices and herbs and finally moistened with tinted chicken oil, making it even appetizing and relishing. Moreover, we will tell you how to customize the Chicken Inasal Recipe with Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauces so you customize it in your own way and enjoy a dainty meal.
Table of Contents
History of Chicken Inasal
Although the Chicken Inasal recipe originated in the Philippines, the word Inasal is derived from the Spanish word ‘asar’, meaning ‘to roast’. So, Inasal means ‘roasted’. The recipe resembles the famous Filipino Lechon Manok. Still, it gained popularity when two food chains, Mang Inasal and Bacolod Chicken Inasal in Iloilo City, started serving it. In Bacolod, a whole street deals in local street food, and Chicken Inasal is their most famous. A sign in the middle of the street reads ‘Manokan Country,’ which means the country of chicken.
The recipe traveled to other parts of the world when a cook stayed in the Philippines for a few years and was fed Inasal prepared in several types of meat. The cook then tried the recipe in chicken, following the instructions in the Memories of Philippine Kitchens. In different regions, Inasal is prepared in different ways, yet it tastes heavenly in every way. Follow our recipe, and we guarantee you will never head to any restaurant for Chicken Inasal.
Chicken Inasal Recipe at Home
Being a famous local dish in the Philippines, it is natural that you want to make Chicken Inasal at home. Prepare it according to our instructions, and you are in for a treat.
Chicken Inasal Ingredients
- Chicken Legs: 4
- Vinegar (preferably coconut): 1 cup
- Calamansi Juice: ½ cup (save the skin as well)
- Ginger: 1-2 inches piece (peeled)
- Garlic: 4 to 5 cloves (not peeled)
- Lemon Grass: 2 stalks
- Salt: 2 Tbsp or to taste
- Dark Soy Sauce: 2 Tbsp
- Black Pepper Powder: ½ Tbsp or to taste
- Brown Sugar: ¼ cup
- Chili Powder: 1 Tbsp
Ingredients for Chicken Oil
- Olive Oil: ⅓ cup
- Chicken skin with fats: 1 cup
- Garlic Cloves: 2 (peeled and crushed)
- Annatto/Achuete Seeds: 1 ½ Tbsp
- Butter or Margarine: 2 to 3 thin slices
- Calamansi Juice: 2 Tbsp
Instructions to Make Chicken Inasal
Put the defrosted chicken legs with skin and fat in a deep bowl. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of salt and rub it all over the chicken. While rubbing, the skin might come off. Save the skin for later usage.
Then let the chicken stay in the salt, and after 5 to 10 minutes, rinse it with fresh water. Cut out the extra fats/skin, if needed. Give the chicken some deep cuts or pierce with a fork so the marinade can penetrate.
Meanwhile, start preparing the marinade. In a mixing bowl, take brown sugar, chili powder, black pepper powder, salt, ginger, and garlic. Take the lemon grass stalks, crush and cut them into small pieces. Add these to the marinade. Then add soy sauce, Calamansi juice (without seeds), Calamansi skins, and vinegar. Mix all the ingredients well, and the Inasal marinade is prepared.
Put the chicken pieces in a deep bowl and pour this marinade on the chicken. Mix well. Then, either cover the bowl with a cling film or convert it into a plastic bag and secure it with a rubber band. Then let it marinate for four to six hours.
Meanwhile, prepare the chicken oil. The chicken oil keeps Inasal moist when you grill it. It is basically the chicken oil that makes Inasal so delicious.
To make the chicken oil, take a non-stick pan and heat olive oil over medium-low heat. As the oil warms up, pour the saved chicken fats and skin into it. Cover it with a lid and keep stirring from time to time so it does not burn out. When the chicken skin and fats turn dark brown and shrink 3 times their actual size, skim them out of the oil. The chicken oil is prepared.
As Inasal has a tangerine tinge, it is due to the exquisite color of Annatto seeds. When you skim out the chicken skin and fats, put garlic cloves in and let them change their color. Then add the Annatto Seeds. As the sauce reaches an appetizing orange color, turn off the heat. Strain the oil into a bowl with the help of a sieve. Save it for later use.
After six hours, take the chicken out of the fridge and spread the pieces on a baking tray. Secure the tray with tin foil. Then let it bake in a preheated oven for twenty minutes at 200 degrees.
Take the tray out of the oven. Now is the time to grill it. Scatter the pieces on a grilling pan and brush the prepared chicken oil. This oil will moisten the chicken and give it a relishing orange color.
Keep oiling it every seven minutes while it grills.
After 15 to 20 minutes, dish out the chicken and serve with rice, Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauce, and fizzy drinks, and get ready to enjoy delicious grilled chicken.
How to Make Chicken Inasal with Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauce?
Chicken Inasal is very easy to prepare. Still, you can improvise the Chicken Inasal recipe with Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauce. This hot sauce makes it delicious and saves you tons of time, for if you marinate it in the Dingolay Hot Sauce, you do not have to prepare the Chicken Inasal marinade.
Instructions to Make Chicken Inasal Quickly
Follow the above-given instructions, and only marinate the chicken in Original Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauce. It has a perfect consistency, with flavors that are completely out of the world. After marinating the chicken for 4 to 6 hours, bake it. Then grill it while brushing it with chicken oil.
Quick, easy, and delicious Chicken Inasal is ready.
Side Dish to Serve with Chicken Inasal
Since Inasal is a Philippine cuisine, let’s serve it in its traditional essence. In the Philippines, it is served with plain boiled rice. This rice is then moistened with chicken oil and paired with salads. Salads or sauteed vegetables are a perfect match to compliment this juicy Inasal.
Kachumar Salad Recipe
Kachumar salad is one of the easiest salads to prepare. Made with simple ingredients, it does not consume much time and goes with almost every meal.
Ingredients for Kachumar Salad
- Cucumber: 1 (peeled and diced)
- Tomato: 1 (diced)
- Red Onion: ½ (diced)
- Cabbage: ½ cup (shredded/diced)
- Carrot: ½ cup (diced)
- Capsicum (red, green, yellow): ½ cup (diced)
- Coriander leaves: 2 to 3 Tbsp (shredded)
- Salt: to taste
- Lime Juice: 1 Tbsp
Instructions to Prepare Kachumar Salad
Peel and dice all the vegetables mentioned above. You can also add cucumber with its skin. It shall make it look colorful. As well as, the three colored capsicums will make it look even more relishing.
Lastly, you can add as much lime juice according to your liking. Mix them well, and Kachumar Salad is prepared to serve with Inasal.
Storage Options for Chicken Inasal
- If you have leftover chicken Inasal, you can refrigerate it for up to four days. Heat it in the oven and serve with your favorite side dish.
- If you have marinated/unbaked Inasal with you. Freeze it in a plastic bag for up to 2 months. It is a perfect option for your emergency cravings or a movie night.
Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauce
We cannot recall a dish that does not taste amazing with Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauces. It is available in three exquisite flavors; Original Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauce, Mango, and Pineapple Tropical Dingolay Gourmet Hot Sauce. It is prepared with natural, ripened Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Peppers, juicy mangoes, and pineapples, flavored with brown sugar, pickled carrots, and indigenous Caribbean herbs and spices. All these ingredients combined form hot sauces that are unparalleled. You can use them to marinate food, serve as dips, and spread along the bread or tortillas. Also, they are gluten-free and vegan friendly. So, pair up your food with Dingolay Hot Sauces and get ready to dance with an exquisite mixture of sweet, sour, fiery, and hot flavors.
Follow our easiest Chicken Inasal Recipe and let us know if you have other ways to customize it!