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Gai Yang Hua Hin Recipe

Gai Yang (Thai barbecued chicken) is a tasty way to serve chicken to family and friends. You can use chicken parts as this recipe calls for or whole chicken cut in half. Sometimes I use split Cornish Game Hens which have a milder and closer to a Thai chicken flavour. Grill until skin is very crisp! Gai Yang Hua Hin picture

Summary

Preparation Time1 Hr 0 MinCooking Time30 Min

Ready In1 Hr 30 MinHealth IndexHealthy

Servings8CuisineThai

CourseMain DishTasteSpicy

MethodBarbecueSpecialityKids

Main IngredientChickenInterest GroupExotic

Recipe Story

One of our favourite Thai dishes is the various types of yummy barbecued chicken. This is a very popular street food all over Thailand. Thai chickens are black and have long skinny legs. They are free range hormone free chickens running about scratching for bugs darting across roads doging in and out of the racy motorcycles. It is a funny sight to see them scury from side to side of the road squacking as they dart across just missing being squashed chicken. The wonderful flavour of a Thai chicken is unbeatable. They are lean, small and so flavourful with a real chicken flavour. It is simply amazing what a REAL chicken tastes like. Even the meat has a different colour when raw-no yellow fat. Barbecued chicken has variations depending on what region of Thailand you are in-Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Isan, and Southern Thai each have a unique style and taste. Each area uses a different combination of spices, all are grilled over charcoal. The small chickens are split and flattened out between bamboo sticks. Chicken on a stick! When you are riding on a bus or train at most stops local street cooks hop board the vehicle calling out loudly Gai Yang! Gai Yang! It is impossible to ignore the wonderful smell of these just grilled birds-birds on a stick being hawked We love to replicate this style of barbecue at home. I buy free-range, hormone free local fresh birds.

Ingredients

8 cloves garlic -- crushed

1 tablespoon pepper white -- ground

1/2 cup coriander -- chopped fine

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coriander -- ground

1 tablespoon red chile flakes

2 tablespoon lime juice

4 pounds chicken drumsticks

Directions

Mix all ingredients thoroughly, coating the drumsticks on all surfaces. Marinate 30 minutes or better yet, overnight in the refrigerator. Barbecue over moderate charcoal fire for 30 minutes or until well-cooked on both sides.

Optional garnish: drizzle chile oil, chives across

Serve with Nam Prik Dang (red curry paste).

Red Curry Paste

16 small dried red chiles
1 teaspoon each white pepper corns and cumin seeds, roasted and powdered
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, roasted and powdered
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon coriander root, pounded or chopped
2 teaspoons galangal, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon grass, chopped
2 teaspoons shrimp paste
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon kaffir lime rind

Blend all the ingredients to a fine paste. Refrigerate or freeze and use as required. To avoid thawing the whole quantity, freezing could be done in small packs required for one use each.

Comments

Comments: 3 | Add a Comment

HotChef says :

Hua Hin is beautiful I attended a jazz fest there held for the King.

Posted on: 18 March 2008 - 3:55pm

shantihhh says :

prounounce as Guy yang wua heen Hua Hin is where the King now resides in the Royal Summer Palace. Hua Hin is about 2 hours south along the Coast south of Bankok. This lovely seaside area is very popular with Thais and a few from Scandnavia mainly those of Finland. Steve and I love Hua Hin for its wide white 11 kilometer long beach where you can even ride horses. The seafood is amazing! Spices used are a bit different from say Bankok and very different from Isan (NE Provence) or Hat Yai which is mainly Muslim and next to the Malaysian border. Thailand is a very long country and as a result there are many regional ways of cooking. Hua Hin offers fresh seafood daily direct at Hua Hin Fishing Pier and Khao Takiab Fishing Village. Many are located close to the Fishing Pier area of Hua Hin where the catch is literally still flipping when brought to the restaurants. But at the Hua Hin Night Market such as Gai Yang and Satay rule. A big difference is that the chickens are fatter in Hua Hin than those skinny black birds running around that end up on bamboo sticks on the grill in Chiang Mai. This all being said Gai Yang is the speciality of Isan! Some of the most flavourful of all skinny chickens which are the best! You get some crispy skin in each bite have an interesting ingredient-a water beetle thing. In Thai it's called maengdaa and gives various dips and sauces a sort of "fruity" flavor (at least that's how it tastes to me--it's really quite hard to pin down). You can still buy the entire insect, but nowadays many people use the artificial maengdaa "essence" that comes in tiny vials and is available at most supermarkets. I buy several boxes on each trip to Thailand. I know it sounds weird but it is great for it's special flavour. Shanti/Mary-Anne

Posted on: 12 March 2008 - 6:04pm

Ganesh Dutta says :

Name is difficult but dish is looking super delicious. Really this is an excellent recipe. But mam I want to know that what is this hua hin style? Please Explain.

Posted on: 12 March 2008 - 2:54pm