Chicken Inasal (Filipino Marinated and Grilled Chicken)
This citrus, vinegar, and pepper infused barbecue recipe will give you tender and flavorful chicken inasal (or char-grilled chicken). Your guests will love this traditional Filipino recipe at your next party!
In a saucepan over medium heat, add the vegetable oil, minced garlic, and minced lemongrass. Lightly simmer for one minute until they begin to lightly brown on the edges.
Add the annatto seeds and bay leaf. Cook for another minute or until there are bubbles surrounding the seeds. Remove the pan from the heat and steep for one hour.
Strain the oil and transfer into a glass container like a mason jar.
Marinade
Pat your chicken dry with paper towels. In a glass container with an airtight lid, combine the achiote oil, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, light brown sugar, lime juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the chicken into the container. Turn chicken to make sure it’s thoroughly coated. Cover with an airtight lid and place in the fridge to marinate overnight. I like to shake the chicken in the container every 5 hours to make sure the chicken is thoroughly coated and the marinade doesn’t separate. Remove the chicken from the fridge for 30-60 minutes before grilling so it can warm up to room temperature and cook more evenly.
Basting sauce
In a microwave safe bowl, combine butter, achiote oil, lime juice, salt, and sugar. Heat in the microwave for 20 seconds or until the butter is completely melted.
Stir to mix all the ingredients.
Grilling
Preheat your grill to medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, then clean your grill.
Grilling chicken legs takes about 30-40 minutes total, depending on the thickness, or when the chicken measures at 160 °F. Be careful to not burn your chicken by leaving it directly over the fire.Note: My grill is too hot with three flames on low, so I shut one off leaving two burners on low.
Place the chicken skin side up over the lowest heat setting and close the lid. The grill’s internal temperature should be around 300-325 °F. You will not be turning the chicken until the end for searing.
Only open the lid, every 10 minutes for basting. Simultaneously, also make sure to test the internal chicken temperature and remove pieces when they reach 160 °F in the thickest part of the chicken.
TIP: If your chicken is burning, move them to the top tier rack (if you have one), OR move them to a section of the grill with the lowest heat, OR with the flame off.
When all the chicken has reached 160 °F and you’ve removed them from the grill, raise the heat to medium and close the lid for three minutes. Open the lid, then sear each piece of chicken with the skin side down for about one to two minutes or until you get a nice brown color.
Remove from the grill and rest for a few minutes.
Combine ingredients for the dipping sauce and serve with chicken and with steamed rice or garlic rice immediately.