Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken Recipe Whiskaffair

on Jan 25, 2021, Updated Nov 24, 2023 Here are some more of my Caribbean recipes that you might like: Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge, Plantain Porridge, Haitian Epis, Haitian Spaghetti, and Cuban Chicken Noodle Soup.

About Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken

Brown Stew Chicken is a classic Jamaican (Caribbean) stew dish made with bone-in chicken, vegetables, browning sauce, and aromatic spices. This chicken stew is very popular among Jamaican households and English-speaking Caribbean islands, such as Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Belize, Dominica, etc. The browning sauce gives this chicken dish a fantastic color and flavor, making it different from other chicken stew dishes. You can make the sauce from scratch like I did or buy it from a store to save time.

What Is Browning Sauce

Browning sauce is a popular condiment in Caribbean households. It is made using cane sugar and adds a depth of flavor and dark color to stews and soups. You can easily find it in supermarkets, but I prefer to make my own from scratch, as it is super easy and economical. If you go for the store-bought sauce, look out for Gravy Master, Grace, or Kitchen Bouquet brands. The homemade browning sauce is thinner than the store-bought one. So if you use store-bought sauce, use just ¾ cup compared to 1 cup of homemade sauce.

Serving Suggestions

This chicken stew is traditionally served with Jamaican rice and peas, rice and beans, coconut rice, or fried plantains. To Marinate The Chicken – To marinate the chicken, you will need chicken bouillon powder, ginger, garlic, thyme, salt, and ground black pepper. To Make The Browning Sauce, you will need brown sugar and water. Brown sugar is caramelized and mixed with water to make the sauce. To Make The Gravy – You will need oil, onions, garlic, green and red bell peppers, ketchup, hot sauce, chicken stock, and salt. Adjust the amount of hot sauce depending on how spicy you want the stew to be. Note – Use 1 pound (500 g) if using boneless chicken. Transfer the chicken pieces to a large bowl. Add the following ingredients to the bowl and mix well with the chicken.

1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder ½ teaspoon minced ginger 1 teaspoon minced garlic

Cover the bowl with a lid and refrigerate for at least an hour or better overnight. Add ½ cup of light brown sugar to a small, light-colored skillet and cook on medium-low heat until it melts and turns dark brown (4-5 minutes). Stir continuously using a silicon spatula to ensure the sugar doesn’t scorch. Note: The sugar can go from perfectly browned to burnt in just a few seconds, so be very careful at this step. Once the sugar is dark brown, add 1 cup of water in a thin stream while stirring it with a wire whisk. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved in water. Remove the pan from heat and keep it aside. To make the gravy, heat ¼ cup of any neutral-flavored oil in a large cast-iron pot over high heat. When the oil is hot, arrange the marinated chicken pieces in the pot in a single layer. Cook for 2-3 minutes on high heat until the chicken is nicely browned on the bottom. Then, flip the pieces using tongs and cook for another 2-3 minutes so that they brown well on the other side. Remove the browned chicken to a plate. In the same pot, add the following ingredients and cook for 2-3 minutes.

½ cup diced onions 1 teaspoon minced garlic ½ cup sliced green pepper ½ cup sliced red pepper

Add the browning sauce we made earlier and the chicken stock, and bring the mixture to a boil. If using store-bought browning sauce, use ¾ cup of it. Add ½ teaspoon salt and stir well. Add the browned chicken pieces to the pot and mix everything. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is tender. Check for salt and pepper and add more if required. Serve hot with steamed rice. But it also tastes great with steamed white rice, brown rice, or quinoa. I like to whip up a quick batch of my best-ever Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes and serve this stew over it.