Delicious spicy jerk chicken, served with brown rice and peas, a crunchy cabbage salad and a mango and pineapple salsa. Inspired by a recent trip to Jamaica, this vibrant recipe by Mike Tomkins is full of beautiful colours and flavours. It’s the perfect pick-me-up in winter, or a lovely sharing meal to enjoy outside in the summer.

This recipe tells you how to cook your chicken in the oven, but if you are able to cook it over fire you will get a lovely char and smokey flavour. Mike has included a recipe for the jerk seasoning, but you can also use shop-bought if you prefer.

Temperatures

Cooked with the Thermapen One to create perfectly juicy chicken, Mike removed it from the heat at 68°C to allow the temperature to rise to 74°C as it rested.

Ingredients

For the jerk chicken

• 2 chicken cutlets, skin-on
• Jerk seasoning (shop-bought or recipe to make your own below)
• Olive oil

For the rice and peas

• 150 g brown rice
• 60 g red kidney beans
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 1 spring onion, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 5 allspice berries
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 scotch bonnet, halved, deseeded and finely sliced
• 10 g fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1/2 can coconut milk

For the crunchy cabbage salad

• 1/4 white cabbage, finely shredded
• 1/4 red cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 carrot, finely shredded or grated
• 6 radishes, finely sliced
• Half bunch coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 3 jalapeños, finely sliced
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp olive oil

For the mango and pineapple salsa

• 50 g fresh mango, diced
• 50 g fresh pineapple, diced
• 1/2 scotch bonnet, deseeded and finely sliced
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• Few leaves of fresh parsley, finely shredded

For the jerk seasoning

• 1/2 tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tsp kosher salt
• 3 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp pul biber
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground clove
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Directions

Start off this recipe...

• by preparing your rice and peas, this recipe uses brown rice which takes a lot longer to cook than white rice. This method gives you perfect brown rice every time. Rinse the rice in a sieve under the sink – this washes off most of the excess starch in the grains. Add the rice to a large heavy bottomed pan and fill with cold water that comes to roughly an inch higher than the rice. Gradually bring the pan to a simmer and season well. The rice will take roughly 30 minutes to cook once it has reached a simmer.
• Whilst this is on the go, add the shallot, garlic clove, allspice berries, thyme, scotch bonnet and fresh ginger to a small pan with the coconut milk . Bring this to a simmer. You want to reduce the coconut milk by roughly a third whilst stirring occasionally.
• Once the rice is tender but still with a bit of a bite, drain and return to the pan. Combine this with the coconut milk mixture, add the kidney beans and the spring onion and stir everything through well. Remove the pan from the heat and cover with a dish cloth to allow the rice to steam for an additional few minutes.

To make the jerk chicken supreme

• Simply coat the chicken breasts in olive oil and rub your jerk seasoning all over the chicken, paying careful attention to the grooves of the meat. You want to make sure the whole chicken is marinated. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour before you’re ready to start cooking.
• This method is for cooking in the oven. However, for an authentic finish, use a BBQ to get a good char on the meat. Heat the oven to 200°C and start with the skin side down. Cook this way for roughly 5 minutes before carefully turning the chicken. We’re looking for an internal temperature of 68°C before removing from the oven and resting for 10 minutes. During this rest period the meat will continue cooking and the temperature will rise to 74°C.

For the cabbage salad

• Whilst the chicken is cooking, prepare your salsa and cabbage salad. For the salsa simply dice the ingredients and combine in a bowl with the lime and lemon juice. You want to try to retain as much of the mango and pineapple juice in the bowl as possible. Season to taste and set aside until needed.
• Combine the white cabbage, shredded carrot, red onion, jalapeños, radishes and coriander before mixing well. Combine the olive oil and the lime juice in a small mug or bowl and season to taste, then dress the salad. Once you’re ready to serve, add the red cabbage and toss well (don’t add this any sooner or the colour will seep out).

Mike Tomkins

Masterchef 2021 Runner Up

@thenotecook

"Thermapen is one of those kitchen tools I can't live without - it's something I use every single day from making sauces, to bbq cooking, to private dining and events, it comes with me everywhere! A Thermapen will improve you as a chef and a cook by taking the guess work out of complex cooking."