There are restaurants that specialize in Portuguese chicken. Portuguese grills. They are worth seeking out. The good ones take this up to an art form. Forget Nando’s. That’s fast food. There are way better places.
Dual level grilling for perfectly basted Portuguese chicken
They have a two level grill. It’s genius. Think two layers of chicken grilling. The chickens on the top start to render. They drip down onto the chickens below. Basting them continuously. The chickens on the bottom come off when they are done. The one’s on the top get moved down below. And uncooked birds get put on the top rack. The whole thing repeats. Perfectly basted Portuguese chicken. It’s served simply. Portuguese chicken. Roasted potatoes. A nice Portuguese white wine. Some dipping sauce on the side. It’s wonderful in it’s simplicity. So good. I don’t have a really good way of absolutely replicating what they do. I don’t cook 100 chickens too often. If you do, think about getting one of those grills. If you don’t this approach will come close. And it’s pretty fast. The marination period is pretty short. After that you are grilling a chicken. Nothing more. Nothing scary here.
Charcoal really makes this chicken special
I know. I say it a lot. But here I really mean it. Charcoal is always important but here it’s key. The kiss of smoke really adds something. Makes it what it is. If you’ve never cooked over charcoal maybe it’s time to start thinking about it. Not that much more hassle than a gas grill. And the results speak for themselves. Don’t think I’d bother with this one on a gas grill. Just use your oven. It will be better than on a gas grill. You’ll get all those pan drippings. Delicious that way. Completely different but really good. A good soak in lemon juice and salt adds a nice tang. Don’t let it go more than an hour though. Lemon is an acid. Acids cook chicken – think ceviche. You want the heat to cook the chicken, not the lemon. Chicken ceviche isn’t a famous dish for a reason. Other than that you want to make sure you catch all the drippings from the chicken as it rests. That’s called board sauce and it’s magic. It’s always magic so make a point of drizzling it on your chicken every time you grill. Board sauce is something you need to learn. That’s about it. Portuguese chicken. Easy. Fast. Perfect summertime fare.
