Grilled Red Curry Chicken
This 6-ingredient Thai grilled chicken, adapted from Jet Tila’s “101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die,” is a deeply flavorful breeze to make!
- Makes4 servings
- Cook Time1¼ hours
- Active time plus cooling35 minutes active, plus marinating and resting
- 12
Jet Tila is a chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and TV personality who spent his formative years in the food-focused environment of his family’s Thai markets and restaurants in Los Angeles. In his latest book, “101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die,” Tila includes a recipe for a simpler way to make gai yang, or Thai marinated chicken, a dish that, made the traditional way, requires a laundry list of items, including cilantro roots, turmeric and lemon grass, plus a way to pound them to a paste. In his new spin, Tila combines only six easy ingredients—coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, curry powder, garlic, sugar and salt—to make an aromatic, flavor-packed marinade that comes together in minutes and tastes fantastic. This is our adaptation of his recipe. We swapped bone-in chicken thighs for Tila’s whole chicken and cut slashes into them so the marinade gets deep into the meat. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.
Don’t use light coconut milk. Its flavor and consistency are thin and watery. Regular full-fat coconut milk, sold in cans or aseptic boxes, is best. Before use, be sure to stir the coconut milk well to incorporate the fat that separates to the top. Any leftover coconut milk will keep the freezer in an airtight container for several months.
Step 1
In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, curry paste, curry powder, sugar, garlic and 2 teaspoons salt. Using a sharp knife, cut parallel slashes, spaced about 1 inch apart, in the skin side of each piece of chicken, cutting all the way to the bone.
Add the chicken to the bowl and, using your hands, rub the marinade onto the chicken and into the slashes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Step 2
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. For a charcoal grill, ignite a large chimney of coals, let burn until lightly ashed over, then distribute evenly over one half of the grill bed; open the bottom grill vents. For a gas grill, turn all burners to high. Heat the grill, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes, then clean and oil the grate. If using gas, turn off one burner, leaving the remaining burner(s) on high.
Step 3
Remove the chicken from the marinade, scrape off as much marinade as possible and place the pieces skin side up on the cooler side of the grill. Cover and cook until the thickest parts of the thighs (not touching the bone) reach about 170°F, 35 to 40 minutes.
Using tongs, move the chicken, still skin side up, to the hot side of the grill. Cook, uncovered, until lightly charred on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the chicken skin side down and cook until the skin is crisped and lightly charred, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer skin side up to a platter and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve with the dipping sauce or lime wedges.
Step 4
Oven instructions: Follow the recipe to marinate the chicken. When you are ready to cook the chicken, heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle position. Place a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet (if desired, for easier cleanup, first line the baking sheet with foil) and mist the rack with cooking spray. Remove the chicken from the marinade, scraping off as much marinade as possible, and place the pieces skin side up on the prepared rack. Roast until the chicken is well browned and the thickest parts (not touching the bone) reach 175°F, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a platter and let rest for 15 minutes. Serve with the dipping sauce or lime wedges.
