Angry Chicken

Fans of the show Iron Chef know Masaharu Morimoto. Apart from being a ninja in the kitchen, he also owns a chain of fine dining establishments around the world. While in Australia recently, I picked up his cookbook which looked to be full of delicious recipes. This is our first attempt from his book.

Now, I like spicy food. Reading the recipe over, I was wondering if I was going to bite of more than I could chew with this one. I did try to eat some of the roasted pepper a quickly decided to just stick with the chicken.

In spite of reading like a very spicy dish, the spicing is actually just right. You can taste everything and the marinade makes the meat extremely juicy, provided you cook it to 160F (72C) and no higher. The lime juice is a nice, acidic cooling contrast to the spices. We marinated our chicken for about 36 hours. Delicious.

CHICKEN
2x2 kg chickens, quartered

SPICY YOGURT MARINADE (makes 3 1/2 cups)
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon cumin seed
¼ teaspoon coriander seed
¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon chile powder
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups Frank's hot sauce
1 ⅓ cups yogurt
½ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup soy sauce

DISH
24 long green and red hot chiles
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, or other vegetable oil
fried rice noodles
lime wedges, for serving

CHICKEN
Trim any excess fat from the chicken, Rinse and pat dry, Place the chicken quarters in a large bowl. Measure out 1 cup of the Spicy Yogurt Marinade and reserve for the sauce: refrigerate in a small covered container.

Pour the rest of the marinade over the chicken. Turn the pieces to make sure they are all well-coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 and up to 24 hours.

About 1 hour before you plan to serve the chicken, preheat the oven to 450F (230C). Remove the chicken from the marinade and arrange the pieces on 1 or 2 half-sheet pans or large baking sheets. Discard the chicken marinade.

Roast for 40 minutes, until the chicken is tender and lightly browned and the juices run clear when the thighs are pricked with the tip of a small knife. Transfer the pieces to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm.

While the chicken is roasting, make the sauce. Boil the chicken stock in a medium saucepan over high heat until it is reduced to 1 cup. Whisk in the reserved 1 cup Spicy Yogurt Marinade and cook just until heated through; do not boil, or the yogurt will separate. Keep the sauce warm.

As soon as the chickens are done, preheat the broiler. Toss the chiles with the oil to coal lightly and spread them out on a broiler rack or small baking sheet. Broil the chiles about 4 inches from the heat, turning them a couple of times until they are blistered and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

To serve, layer the chicken and chiles on a large platter. Pour the sauce around the chicken, Top with the Fried Rice Noodles. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over the chicken.

SPICY YOGURT MARINADE
To make the marinade, grind the peppercorns, cumin, coriander seeds, and cardamom in a spice grinder or use a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the chile powder, garam masala and salt. Add the hot sauce, yogurt, cream, and soy sauce and whisk until smooth and well blended.

FRIED RICE NOODLES
Add vegetable oil to reach about 2 inches up the sides of a large saucepan or a wok. Heat the oil over high heat to 340F (170C). Separate 1 bundle of thin rice noodles (mai fun) into 2 portions. Working with one portion at a time, add the noodles to the oil. They will puff up almost immediately. Using a large wire skimmer, transfer to paper towels to drain.