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AI-generated photograph: Three pieces of lacquered golden brown grilled chicken with blistered, charred skin arranged on a long oblong charcoal grey slate, a small woven bamboo basket of sticky rice and a tiny clay bowl of dark red chilli dipping sauce at one end, sprigs of coriander, seen from a three quarter angle

Home · Recipes · Gai yang, Isan grilled chicken

Isan (north east Thai) · Dinner

Gai yang, Isan grilled chicken

garlic and white pepper · charcoal grilled · crisp skin

AI-generated photograph

Gai yang is the grilled chicken sold from charcoal stalls all over Isan: chicken marinated in garlic, coriander, white pepper and lemongrass, then cooked until the skin is crisp and smoky. It is eaten with sticky rice and a sharp jaew dipping sauce.

Contains: fish, as written. Fish (fish sauce). Check the fish sauce has no wheat added. Many gai yang recipes add soy sauce or oyster sauce; ours does not, so it has no soya, gluten or molluscs.

Ingredients

  • 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks (about 1.4kg)
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled
  • A small bunch of coriander, stems and roots if you have them (about 20g)
  • 2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layer removed, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon white peppercorns
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon palm sugar or light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • Half a teaspoon fine salt

Plan a week with Isan (north east Thai) dishes

Let's cook

  1. Slash each chicken piece 2 or 3 times through the thickest part, down to the bone, so the marinade gets in and the meat cooks evenly.
  2. Pound or blend the garlic, coriander stems and roots, lemongrass, white peppercorns and salt to a rough paste. Stir in the fish sauce, palm sugar and oil.
  3. Rub the paste all over the chicken and into the cuts. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
  4. Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan). Take the chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. Line a roasting tin with foil, set a rack in it and lay the chicken on the rack, skin side up.
  5. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes until the skin is deep golden and the chicken is cooked through: the juices run clear when you pierce the thickest part by the bone, there is no pink meat, and a probe thermometer reads 75C.
  6. For a grill stall char, finish the chicken under a hot grill for 3 to 4 minutes, or over a hot barbecue, turning, until the skin blisters and blackens in spots.
  7. Rest for 5 minutes, then serve with khao niao sticky rice and nam jim jaew for dipping.

Tips

  • On a charcoal barbecue, cook over medium indirect heat with the lid on for 35 to 40 minutes, then move over the coals to crisp the skin. Always check 75C by the bone.
  • Cool leftovers within 2 hours and keep them in the fridge for up to 2 days. Eat cold, or reheat in a hot oven for 15 minutes until piping hot all the way through.

Swaps

  • Boneless: use 8 boneless thigh fillets and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, still checking 75C.
  • No lemongrass: use the finely grated zest of 1 lime.

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

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