Chamoy Chicken

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Chamoy is a super flavorful sauce made of chilis, spices, some type of sweetness and lime.  My shortcut version soaks dried Guajillo chilis and adds apricot preserve straight from the store.  It you’ve never used dried chilis, they’re actually a lot of fun to work with and make quite interesting sauces like this one.  You can buy Chamoy in the store, but many of the kinds I’ve seen have high fructose corn syrup as the sweetener, so I prefer my version and I like either Bon Maman apricot preserves or a fruit only version to avoid excess sugars.

The Chamoy makes a great addition to simple, humble chicken thighs grilled to smoky perfection with a bit of charred corn and scallion added at the last minute.  The spicy, sweet Chamoy with pops of sugary corn that’s also been grilled are a great flavor combination.  The chicken gets some crisp bits on the edges due to the natural sugars in the Chamoy.  It makes for a lovely bite that’s quite addictive. 

SOAKING THE GUAJILLO CHILIS BEFORE BLITZING IN MY NINJA

DON'T PASS UP THE COCONUT LIME CILANTRO RICE.

KEEPING THIS SIMPLE WITH JUST SCALLIONS AND SWEET GRILLED CORN

Making the Chamoy in advance and keeping a jar in your fridge can ensure you can put this dish together in under 30 minutes.  How’s that for an easy weeknight dinner?  The extra Chamoy can be used on fish or shrimp, or used to coat sweet potato wedges before roasting.  So much spicy sweet flavor.


The coconut lime cilantro rice is the perfect bed for the Chamoy Chicken.  The coconut milk makes the nice a creamy, while the lime and cilantro set it off with tang and freshness. 

Chamoy Chicken with Cilantro Lime Coconut Rice
Serves 4


Chamoy
4 dried Guajillo peppers, pull off stems and roughly chop
8 oz. hot water
8 oz. apricot preserve (I like Bon Maman)
Juice of 1 lime
Pinch of sea salt (I like course sea salt)


Put the dried peppers in a blender carafe and pour over hot water.  Let sit to soften for about an hour.  Blend until smooth.  Love to use my Ninja mini blender for this (available on our shop page) Add lime juice, apricot preserve and salt and blend again until combined.  
At this point you can pour into a jar and store in the fridge for a couple weeks.  I also love to use this on fish, shrimp, coating sweet potato wedges or in the making of mangoladas.  


Chicken


6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut in about 1 inch pieces
1 or 2 ears of sweet corn, out of the husk and silk removed (or 1/2 cup frozen grilled corn kernels)
8 scallions
1 tablespoon neutral oil, like grapeseed (light olive oil is also ok for this)
Salt to taste
lime wedges to serve alongside (optional)
Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional


Pour about 1/2 cup of the chamoy over the chicken and let marinate for 1 hour to overnight.


On a grill or in a hot grill pan, grill the ears of corn until they have nice char marks all around.  If  using frozen, packaged corn just let it thaw for a bit.
Once the corn is cool enough to handle, use a sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cob.  I cut close to the cob so the corn comes off in nice segments.  


Slice the root ends off the scallions and discard, then slice in about 1/2 inch pieces on the bias until you get to the top dark green tougher parts.  Discard those as well.


In a very hot skillet or grill pan add the oil and then the chicken that you’ve been marinating in the Chamoy, including the marinade.  Season with salt and let cook until it starts to char on all sides.  Stir occasionally.  When the chicken is completely cooked, about 8 minutes, add the corn and scallions.  Stir once more then immediately serve over the Coconut Lime Cilantro Rice.  You can serve additional chamoy alongside if you prefer.




Coconut Lime Cilantro Rice


1 cup jasmine rice
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
Zest of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon course sea salt
1 tablespoon butter


Heat oil in a medium sized pot and add rice.  Saute for 1 minute then add coconut milk, water and salt.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for 8 minutes.  All the liquid should be absorbed into the rice.  Uncover then stir in butter, lime zest and cilantro.