One night I decided to have a bunch of friends over for a fabulous dinner. A friend of mine’s brother is a chef and he volunteered to come in and cook for us, so we all agreed that a big pot of something would be the easiest for him to cook since there were about 10 of us. Brown stew chicken was the choice. I’ve had this same meal cooked for me by many Jamaicans. There have been amazing versions of it and pretty lame versions so it’s always a rating game to see if the next one can top the last one.
The chef started by chopping up some fresh coconut to cook in the rice and peas. Normally he would have grated it but my grater was too ghetto to use so he chopped. This chopping came after he smacked a coconut against the wall to crack it, only it burst and coconut water splashed everywhere!
I was no help in the kitchen at all, I just stood there eating the pieces of coconut he was chopping so I got kicked out. Once the rice and peas were on the stove cooking he started to prepare the salad. Again a grater would have been immensely helpful but he had to chop. Check out how finely and beautifully he was chopping the cabbage! I tell you, when Jamaicans cook they spare no expense in the “details” department.
And here’s the awesome finished product in the fridge waiting for the rest of the meal to cook. I love that they take so much time in the kitchen, that’s why everything tastes better in Jamaica. They aren’t in a rush to throw something in the microwave and eat!
I didn’t stay in the kitchen much while he prepared the chicken but I did manage to sneak in long enough to see why the end result tasted so good! He combined all the herbs and seasonings in the blender and beat it into a fabulous pulp of flavor. This is the first time any of my Jamaican friends has used a blender when making brown stew chicken.
The whole ordeal in the kitchen lasted about 2 hours and it was well worth the wait. While he was cooking the group of us had plenty of drinks and dancing in the living room while the smell of supper started to overwhelm us. When the cooking was complete the chef dished up each plate and hand delivered it to us and believe me…….just look at the picture!
Up until now the best brown stew chicken that was ever made for me was in September 2009! Since then no one has even come close to competing with the friend up in Claremont who made it. But this night at my apartment in Ocho Rios WE HAD A WINNER!!! It wasn’t even fair to compare with the rest because this version was just completely different….much more flavor and tang, just altogether BETTER! One of the girls dining this night was with me in Claremont in 2009 and she agreed, this one was tops – hands down.
And oddly enough, the best brown stew chicken I ever ate was prepared by a vegetarian. The chef didn’t even eat his own meal! But he did substitute in tofu for his own plate. 🙂
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Comments
9 responses to “Brown Stew Chicken”
hey JC,i’m jealous,i had brown stew chicken once here in south carolina that my jamaican friend cooked last year,it was great,but like you said , different jamaican chefs add ther own twist and you found the best so far,yummy!,by the way since you mentioned the chef had tofu on his plate, reminded me of my same friend makes an awesome tofu curry,gets the tofu from a store in Atlanta,anyway,the plate looks great, wish i could have tasted it too!,i know you tried it alot since many of your friends cook jamaican dishes when your on the island,what a nice treat!jamaican hospitality at it’s best,i have a picture of a plate my friend made for us in jamaica in june 1999, i need to scan it and some others possibly to get them on the computer,thats the nice thing about having today’s technology with picture discs and digital cameras etc .have a good day,one love
It is below Zero degrees here and I tell you looking at this picture make me want o be in Jamaica right now, I would like you to hook me up with this chef for a job when I go to Jamaica next summer, I dont want to cook anything
I feel your pain Donna. It’s COLD and full of snow here too UGH! And don’t worry, I have plenty of chefs I can link you with when you get there. Keep in touch!
Well I guess I am an oddball, it seems everyone is getting snow but us….I had enough of this rain already. That chicken looks scrumptious I can taste it.
Well rain and more rain….so mr. man sleeping away….decide to get up flash to bathroom…coffee….almost 5:00am and peruse sites like this. Now, I always wonder at how jamaicans dig out the coconut out of that thick shell, remember someone asking me while I was there if I wanted to try….no thx. dwl prolly result in a trip to the hospital for me. I can taste that chicken yum yum yum
This was BY FAR the best Brown Stew Chicken I have ever had as well. I thank Ren for teaching me how to make it proper! If anyone is interested in the actual recipe I have it on my blog….http://acoopedupchick.com/march-2011/jamaican-brown-stew-chicken/
Loved reading this again…it was just like being there and reliving it.
😉
Erin! I’m so glad you saw that I reposted this, and glad you were there to share it with us! I tried to tag you in it on FB.
YUMMY!!! That looks sooooooo good! I never seen anyone use a blender to mix the herbs and seasoning, i gotta try that
Same here Doms….before this I never saw it either. I bet blending the seasonings totally unlocks the flavor of it all!