Smoked Thai chicken offers an eclectic mix of spicy, sweet, bitter and salty flavors. The dish can be prepared using a grill and a blend of Thai herbs, spices and sauces. Although smoked Thai chicken is best hot off the grill, leftovers also make flavorful sandwich fillings, soup starters and salad toppers.
Step 1
Set your grill to cook over medium-high heat. Place sawdust or plain or flavored wood chips into the grill's smoking tray. If the grill does not have a smoking tray, create an aluminum foil pouch large enough to hold the chicken over the coals. Since the pouch will be placed directly onto the hot coals, ensure its structural stability by creating the foil pouch out of several layers of aluminum foil sheets. Then, use a fork to punch several holes into the top of the foil to properly ventilate the chicken as it cooks.
Step 2
Rinse a whole or separated chicken under running water and pat dry. Prepare a marinade with an assortment of Thai spices. These can include soy sauce, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, coconut milk, scallions, onions, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, honey, garlic, cumin, red or yellow curry paste or powder and basil. Sweet chili sauce, shrimp paste, oyster sauce and tamarind juice are also traditional Thai flavoring agents used in marinades and food preparations. Place chicken into marinade and let it sit for at least two hours, or preferably overnight.
Step 3
Remove the chicken and discard the marinade. Place the chicken onto the aluminum foil pouch set atop the hot coals or in the grill's smoking tray. If using the aluminum foil pouch, cover the pouch tightly with another piece of aluminum foil to prevent oxygen from igniting the wood and initiating a fire. If using a cut-up chicken, place the poultry onto the smoking tray or pouch meat-side down. Smoke the chicken for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Turn the poultry after the initial 30 minutes and check the meat for doneness after one hour. A cooking thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken should read 165 degrees Fahrenheit before removing from heat, according to KidsHealth.org.
Step 4
Remove the chicken from the grill and serve it with a traditional Thai side dish, such as cucumber salad or curried noodles.
Things You'll Need
- Whole or cut-up chicken
- Charcoal grill
- Sawdust or wood chips
- Aluminum foil
- Thai spices, such as soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, curry powder, basil, shrimp paste or oyster sauce
- Cooking thermometer
