Best 4 Trinidadian Stew Chicken Recipes

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In the vibrant culinary landscape of Trinidad and Tobago, one dish stands out as a beloved classic: stew chicken. This savory and flavorful dish is a testament to the island nation's rich cultural heritage, blending African, Indian, and European influences to create a uniquely Trinidadian culinary experience.

This article presents a collection of authentic Trinidadian stew chicken recipes, each offering a slightly different take on this iconic dish. You'll find everything from the traditional version, featuring tender chicken simmered in a rich, aromatic gravy, to variations that incorporate unique ingredients like coconut milk, dumplings, and vegetables.

Whether you're a seasoned cook or a beginner in the kitchen, this article has something for everyone. The recipes are easy to follow and provide step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process of creating this delicious dish. So, get ready to tantalize your taste buds and embark on a culinary journey to Trinidad and Tobago with these authentic stew chicken recipes.

Let's cook with our recipes!

TRINIDAD STEWED CHICKEN



Trinidad Stewed Chicken image

Trinidadian stew chicken is quite unique from stews around the world. There are many variations, but in my simple recipe, pieces of chicken are first browned in a modest amount of "burnt" sugar and the flavor is enhanced with fresh herbs, garlic, tomato, a touch of ginger and pimento, habanero or other hot pepper. Stew chicken is one of my favorite chicken recipes. I always say, "you know you are a Trini (a Trinidadian) if you don't know what to cook and you decide to make either stewed chicken or curried chicken". In minutes you can prepare this mouthwatering stew chicken that's unrivaled in flavor. In my opinion, there is no chicken recipe anywhere that can produce such a complex and satisfying experience with the minimum effort required of this recipe.

Provided by CookingwithRia

Categories     dinner     lunch

Number Of Ingredients 14

4 pounds chicken (cut into 2 inch pieces)
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
5 tablespoons brown sugar
2 scallions ( - about 1 cup chopped scallion)
1/2 onion (small)
4 cloves garlic (grated or minced)
1 plum tomato (chopped (optional))
1 tablespoon grated ginger (grated, optional)
4 tablespoons ketchup (optional)
4 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon bandhania (minced)
2 pimento peppers and/or habanero pepper (to taste (optional))
2 tsp Salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon black pepper

Steps:

  • Prep: Wash chicken with the juice of one lemon, lime or vinegar and water, rubbing to remove slime, also remove excess skin, fat. Wash a second time with plain water. Drain well. Wash and chop scallions, tomatoes, peel and chop onion, grate ginger and garlic, cut pimento or habanero if using. Alternately, chicken can be seasoned ahead of time with scallion, onion, garlic, tomato(optional), ginger(optional), thyme, pimento pepper, hot pepper-if using, salt and black pepper, ketchup.
  • In a large pot over medium heat, add oil. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add sugar and allow it to bubble, froth, expand and darken. Do not allow it to smoke and get black. This is the same technique I used with the pelau and stewed lamb.
  • Add chicken and listen to it sing in the pot! Immediately raise the heat to high and stir continuously to coat with the brown sugar, about 2 minutes.
  • If chicken was not pre-seasoned, now add scallion, onion, garlic, tomato(optional), ginger(optional), thyme, pimento pepper, hot pepper-if using, salt and black pepper, ketchup and cook 1-2 minutes more while stirring. Also add potatoes and cooked peas now if using.
  • Cook for 15-20 minutes, covered, over medium high heat (chicken will release it's juices), stirring occasionally, every 5 minutes, until liquid has evaporated.
  • After the liquid has evaporated, continue to cook for a few seconds to allow flavours to develop, stirring continuously to prevent sticking.
  • Add one cup of water, more if you like lots of "sauce". Cover and cook an additional 10-15 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and tender (but not shredding), turning gently once or twice, and the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency.
  • Taste and add more salt and pepper if required. For this dish, I added a total of two teaspoons Himalayan salt but amounts may vary depending on the type of salt you use.
  • Serve hot preferably over rice with stewed beans, callaloo or dhal and your favorite salad. If you feel like it add some fried plantains, wash it down with a cold glass of mauby, sorrel or home-made lemonade.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 261 kcal, Carbohydrate 9 g, Protein 17 g, Fat 17 g, SaturatedFat 7 g, Cholesterol 65 mg, Sodium 584 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 8 g, ServingSize 1 serving

TRINIDAD STEWED CHICKEN



Trinidad Stewed Chicken image

Tender golden brown chicken that goes great with anything.

Provided by MASONBROWNE

Categories     World Cuisine Recipes     Latin American     Caribbean

Time 1h15m

Yield 8

Number Of Ingredients 14

1 (4 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
¼ cup brown sugar
1 cup water
½ cup canned coconut milk
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon butter

Steps:

  • Place chicken on a plate. Sprinkle the green onion, cilantro, garlic, onion, salt and pepper over it. Cover, and marinate for 30 minutes.
  • Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, and cook until the sugar has melted into a nice golden brown syrup. Add the chicken pieces, and brown quickly while turning continuously. Cover the pot, and let it cook for 2 minutes.
  • Pour in 1 cup of water, coconut milk and pepper flakes. Replace the lid, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the ketchup and butter. Continue cooking until chicken is fork tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve chicken with the sauce in the pot as a gravy.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 310.5 calories, Carbohydrate 8.7 g, Cholesterol 65.3 mg, Fat 20.9 g, Fiber 0.4 g, Protein 21.5 g, SaturatedFat 7.8 g, Sodium 404.4 mg, Sugar 7.6 g

TRINIDAD STEWED CHICKEN



Trinidad Stewed Chicken image

Not as complicated as it looks.This version only looks difficult because I tried to explain the technique carefully for first time makers of this dish. There is another recipe posted for this, but I feel it is too vague. This is the first meat dish that I learned to cook at age 12, so it's not that hard. You can do the exact same thing with cubes of beef, pork, lamb or oxtail. What's with all the optional ingredients you ask? Well traditionally all the ingredients listed are used but who isn't watching their salt and fat intake these days? If I am cooking this for guests, I use the optional ingredients but even then I use low salt versions of the sauces and check with my guests first for dietary restrictions. Either way it's great.

Provided by WizzyTheStick

Categories     Stew

Time 1h

Yield 6-8 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 18

3 lbs chicken pieces
2 -3 garlic cloves, finely chopped (garlic powder does not work for this recipe because it burns and turns bitter)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 maggi chicken bouillon cube, and 2 cups water (or 2 cups chicken broth)
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (DO NOT use tabasco sauce. Any hot or mild Caribbean pepper sauce is fine.) (optional)
1 tablespoon golden ray cooking margarine (optional)
1 tablespoon coconut cream (optional)
1 tomatoes, rough chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon Angostura bitters (optional)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
4 bunches chives
4 bunches spanish thyme
4 bunches French thyme
1 bunch fresh culantro (substitute 2 bunches cilantro)
10 pimento pepper (seeded)
4 stalks celery & leaves (I refer here to a local celery which is smaller and more pungent than the North American kind. Subst)

Steps:

  • Prepare Green seasoning marinade:.
  • Put all the seasoning ingredients into your blender or food processor and process dry or with a minimum amount of water. Store in the fridge, in a glass jar, for up to a week. Or add some more water and some vinegar if you want to keep it longer. Sorry I can't offer definite measurements. I usually just eyeball this.
  • Trinidadians use this all purpose mix to season just about any kind of meat. It keeps well in the fridge and we usually make a fresh batch of this once a week.
  • Season chicken with Angustora bitters, green seasoning, salt and black pepper and leave to marinate in the fridge for 1/2 hour or longer if you have the time.
  • Heat oil in a heavy pot, add sugar and garlic and let caramelize. Stir once or twice so that the garlic doesn't burn.
  • The sugar will go from the colour of peanut butter to a bubbling, dark, reddish brown. When the outer edges start to turn an even darker brown , add all the chicken to the pot.
  • Do not stir. Let the water generated by the addtion of the chicken dry out some and give chicken a chance to caramelize. Turn chicken and let rest again for the other side to caramelize. Reapeat this process, turning chicken occasionally so that it browns on all sides. If the sauce at this point looks a little bit gooey you are on the right track. You may need to add a few tablespoons of water during this process if it seems that the sauce is drying out too quickly but keep it at this thickened stage until the chicken is brown. If your sauce is too thin and watery the chicken will not caramelize.
  • TIP: It takes a while for the sugar to get to the dark colour you are looking for. Do not walk away while browning the sugar. Once brown you'd be surprised how quickly it goes to black leaving you with a bitter charred mess that dries hard and ruins your pot and your spoon:=)No this never happened to me before LOL.
  • Don't rush this stage. Let the liquid dry out, turning chicken occasionally so that it browns on all sides. If water is added too soon the brown colour will wash right off. The chicken will be too pale.
  • When chicken is nice and brown, add the Worcestershire sauce, the Maggi cube and 2 cups cup or more of water to cover the chicken or two cups of broth.
  • Add hot pepper sauce; cover pot and bring to a boil. Remove the pot cover part of the way as you want the liquid to start drying up but not so quickly that the chicken doesn't have time to cook. If liquid dries out too quickly you can always add more water.
  • Cook on medium heat until chicken is tender.
  • Once the chicken is cooked, let liquid dry out until the sauce in the pot is no longer watery.
  • Serve with hot rice, salad or vegetables.
  • Variations: You can add a 1/4 cup pumpkin cut in small cubes after you brown the chicken if you want a slightly thicker sauce.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 395.8, Fat 25.8, SaturatedFat 6.6, Cholesterol 103.6, Sodium 682.2, Carbohydrate 13.6, Fiber 2.5, Sugar 10.3, Protein 27.2

TRINIDAD STEW CHICKEN



Trinidad Stew Chicken image

Provided by Felix (Simply Trini Cooking)

Categories     Meats

Time 55m

Number Of Ingredients 11

1 chicken (2 -3 lbs, cut up, seasoned and marinated overnight (or at least for 1 hour))
3 tbsp sugar
1 small onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 sprig chive (chopped)
2 sprigs fine leaf thyme (chopped)
2 leaves big leaf thyme (chopped)
2 sprigs parsley (chopped)
1 tsp tomato paste (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste (optional)
Water

Steps:

  • Heat a deep heavy pot on a medium fire. Add the sugar and allow it to melt and simmer until it looks golden brown.
  • Add the marinated meat and 1/4 cup 0f water. Allow the browning to coat the meat evenly. Lower the heat and allow to simmer for 2 mins.
  • Add the chopped fresh herbs, salt pepper, and 1 1/2 cups of water to just about cover the chicken. Cook until the meat is tender (about 25 - 30 mins). You may add a teaspoon of tomato paste for taste. Serve with rice.

Tips:

  • Use a large pot to cook the chicken and vegetables, as the stew will expand as it simmers.
  • Brown the chicken pieces before adding them to the pot. This will help to develop flavor and prevent the chicken from becoming dry.
  • Add the vegetables to the pot in stages, starting with the harder vegetables like potatoes and carrots. The softer vegetables, like tomatoes and bell peppers, can be added later.
  • Season the stew to taste with salt, pepper, and other spices. You can also add a bit of hot pepper sauce if you like.
  • Simmer the stew for at least 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
  • Serve the stew over rice or with a side of roti.

Conclusion:

Trinidadian stew chicken is a delicious and flavorful dish that is perfect for a hearty meal. It is easy to make and can be customized to your own taste. Next time you are looking for a new and exciting way to cook chicken, give this recipe a try. You won't be disappointed!

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