Belizean Stewed Chicken
Belizean Stewed Chicken
My good friend Sam Gilles was just recently in Belize and brought me back some recado rojo paste. It was literally tied up in a sandwich bag. This really excited me because that shows how homemade this paste really is. Now I had to do some research on how to cook with it. What I discovered is that it is pretty much the same thing as achiote paste that I’ve used in making pibil chicken, which is from the Yucatán part of Mexico, right next to Belize. Now everything is making sense.Stewed chicken is one of the most popular dishes in Belize. Chicken pieces are marinated in the recado paste, then stewed with a ton of onions until the meat falls off the bone. The chicken is typically served with beans and rice or with Belizean-style johnny to sop up the sauce. It turns out that you can buy recado rojo at most Latin markets. If you can’t find recado paste, achiote is an acceptable substitute.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 lbs bone in chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup red recado paste
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 1/2 lime juiced
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the recado paste in a bowl.
- Mix the paste with 1/2 cup water until it is thinned out.
- Marinate the chicken thighs with the recado for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Heat up cooking oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown the chicken thighs for 5 minutes a side. Remove from the pot.
- Sauté the onions for 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken back into the Dutch oven with the rest of the marinade. Pour in 1 cup of water.
- Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 90 minutes.
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