Turbo Chicken Recipes

The following is a quick, very common and no-fail way of preparing Turbo Chicken here in the Philippines, using ingredients and spices that are most readily available (read: household staples in this part of the world). This is also how my mom cooks Turbo Chicken so it's quite easy to see why I love it.

Filipino-style Turbo Chicken
Souce: my mom

You will need:
* Calamansi (calamondin), 2 pieces, squeezed and seeded
* Toyo (soy sauce), about a tablespoonful will do
* Salt and pepper to taste
* Garlic, a couple of cloves to a full head, depending on your preference
* Sugar (optional)
* a medium-sized raw chicken, thawed

Procedure:
1. Mix all the ingredients (except the chicken) into a marinade. Give the chicken a good rubdown with it, taking care to massage it inside and out. If you prefer a stronger flavor, you can let the chicken soak in the marinade for an hour but this is really not necessary. The strong taste of the soy sauce will already provide it with enough flavor.
2. Place a small baking pan at the bottom of the oven, this will be used to catch the drippings (don't throw this after the chicken is cooked! You can use it to make gravy, or see the rest of my explanation below). Place the wire rack that comes with the Turbo above the pan and put the chicken on top of it.
3. Cover your turbo broiler. Set the temperature to 180 degrees celsius (or 375 degrees fahrenheit) and set the timer to go off after 45 minutes. The light inside will go on.
4. Keep checking the chicken (through the see-through glass) every 15 minutes or so. If you think it looks dry, get a pastry brush and baste the chicken with some of the drippings.
5. It should be nicely crisp and golden brown after 40 minutes. You can turn it over if you want the underside to be crispy too. Just be careful not to leave it under the broiler for too long.

How to serve Turbo Chicken, Filipino-style
Turbo chicken is usually cut up into pieces, like in the above photo, and served with steamed rice. It's also commonly served along with the drippings which we Filipinos like to put over our rice (This practice is not very healthy but it's really delicious. Just be careful not to overdo it.)

Images are by Cynthia Arre

Chicken Inasal is a very flavorful chicken dish that comes from Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental which is a province in Southern Philippines. Unlike the usual Filipino-style "barbecue" or grilled chicken that only uses soy sauce, this dish uses a variety of native ingredients and seasonings for its marinade and basting sauce, giving it a delicious spicy-salty, slightly tangy flavor. Inasal is traditionally cooked over a hot charcoal grill and this method is said to enhance the flavor of the marinade, making the dish tastier. This dish is also known for its yellowish color, achieved through the use of achuete (annatto seed oil).

Chicken inasal has since become popular all over the country including the Philippines' capital, Metro Manila with many restaurants now serving their own version of the dish. It is commonly served in halves or quarters, still on their wooden skewers and lying on top of a banana leaf. Inasal is usually paired with fried garlic rice and a dip of soy sauce, vinegar, calamansi and if you're brave, some crushed small red chili peppers.

Authentic inasal preparation is quite fussy but who says you can't enjoy this delicious dish even when you don't have the luxury of time? Yes, now you can do it yourself in the comforts of your home. the ubiquitous, all-purpose Turbo Oven has come to the rescue once more.

Turbo Chicken Inasal Recipe
Adapted from the authentic chicken inasal recipe

Serves: 3-6 people

You will need:
1 whole chicken
A marinade made of
1 head garlic, macerated
2 tbsps. chopped ginger
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/3 cup sinamak (native coconut vinegar)
10 pieces calamansi, juice extracted
3 stalks tanglad (lemon grass), juliennes
salt and coarsely ground pepper

Basting Sauce
1/2 cup Star Margarine
1/4 cup achuete (annatto seeds) oil
salt and pepper
large bamboo skewers
charcoal for grilling

Procedure:
1. Mix together garlic, ginger, sinamak vinegar, a small amount of sugar, lemon grass, calamansi juice, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
2. Rub the chicken with the mixture. (You can choose to leave the chicken whole or cut it up into pieces.)
3. Place chicken in the chiller and let it sit. After 30 minutes, turn the meat and then let it sit for another 30 minutes. It is not ideal to marinate the meat overnight since the acid of the vinegar will completely break down the enzymes of the meat.
4. Meanwhile heat the margarine and annatto seeds in a saucepan over low fire. Continue stirring for a few minutes until the margarine melts and the annatto seeds are well infused and have developed a deep orange color. Turn off the heat and add a small amount of salt and pepper to taste.
5. When the chicken is done marinating, put it on a wire rack and place it inside the turbo oven. Place a pan under the wire rack to catch the drippings.
6. Set the temperature to 180 degrees celsius (375 degrees fahrenheit) and set the timer to 45 minutes.
7. Baste the chicken with leftover marinade every 15 minutes, turning it over every now and then for an even roast. (Don't worry you can lift the turbo's cover every now and then and it will continue cooking.)

Serve your Turbo Chicken Inasal hot together with garlic fried rice and sinamak or soy sauce with calamansi and siling labuyo (small red, very hot chili peppers).

Substitutes:
If you're not in the Philippines, I understand how some ingredients might be difficult to come by so I've made a list of ingredients you can substitute the hard-to-find ones for:
Achuete (annatto seed oil) - since it's mainly used for coloring, you can substitute it with saffron or paprika
Sinamak - if you're in a hurry, you can use regular vinegar but if you'd like to have your own supply, it's quite simple to make: Just get an empty bottle, pour in a handful each of small red hot chili peppers, peppercorns, sliced ginger, peeled cloves of garlic, and cane or palm vinegar. Seal the bottle and let the contents ferment for a few days. It produces a very strong, robust-flavored vinegar - definitely not for the faint of heart. (;
Star Margarine - any other margarine brand

Images courtesy of: The Inquirer

Lechong Manok (also known as Litsong Manok) is the Philippines' version of roast chicken, cooked in a rotisserie or on a spit. It is not unusual to see stalls selling these at every other street corner where customers, usually office workers who have no time to cook dinner before going home, would frequently stop by to take home a whole, medium-sized roasted chicken for about P150.00 (or roughly US$3.50).

Lechong Manok is characterized by very crispy skin and juicy, flavorful meat, and is usually served with a siding of achara (a salad of pickled green papaya, carrots, onions, capsicums and raisins) and lechon sauce (a special spicy-sweet gravy made of chicken liver).

Because we have the turbo broiler, it is quite easy to replicate this yummy dish even without a rotisserie in a cleaner, healthier environment (read: home). Don't get me wrong, street food is fun to eat, delicious and must be tried at least once in your life but if you have an extremely sensitive stomach, better not risk it and check out the following recipe instead.

Turbo Oven Lechong Manok Recipe
Source: Overseas Pinoy Cooking

You will need:
1 1/2 kilo whole chicken
4-6 stalks tanglad, lemon grass, crushed
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup calamansi juice
2 tbsp. ground pepper
1 tsp salt
butter

Procedure:
1. Marinate chicken in soy sauce and calamansi juice for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Rub the chicken including the cavity with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the stalks of lemon grass. Tuck the neck inside the cavity.
3. Roast in a turbo broiler at 350 to 400°F for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, occasionally basting the skin with butter. Cook until golden brown.
4. Serve with lechon sauce or spicy ketchup.

Lechon Sauce Recipe
This is very important! Lechong manok will not be lechong manok without this sauce. If you don't have time to make it, lechon sauce is readily available in any grocery here in the Philippines (or in Filipino specialty stores if you're overseas).
Source: PhilippineCountry.com

You will need:
1/2 pound chicken liver or 1 cup liver pate
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons finely minced garlic
1 cup finely minced onion
1 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. Broil the liver until it is half done. Extract the juices by pressing them through a sieve or strainer.
2. Mix all the sauce ingredients and bring the mixture to a long boil, about 20 minutes over moderate heat, in a saucepan.

Achara Recipe
Lechong manok is commonly served with this pickled papaya salad here in the Philippines but if you can't get hold of it, cucumber in vinegar and a bit of sugar works just fine. But if you want the total Filipino lechon experience, try making the achara recipe from scratch. This will yield just enough achara for the meal.
Source: PinoyCook.net

You will need:
1 green (unripe) papaya
1 carrot
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 onion
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
rock salt

For the pickling solution :
1 c. of strong vinegar
11/8 c. of white sugar
1 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of powdered black pepper

Procedure:
1. Peel the papaya and cut in half. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Shred the papaya using a vegetable grater (similar to a cheese grater but with bigger holes). Sprinkle with about a tablespoonful of rock salt and toss well. Let stand for 15-20 minutes then squeeze out the juices.
2. Peel and cut the carrot into florets.
3. Seed the bell peppers and julienne.
4. Peel the ginger and julienne.
5. Toss the papaya and the vegetables together.
6. Mix together the ingredients for the pickling solution except for the pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring to completely dissolve the sugar and salt. Cool. Pour over the papaya and vegetables, add the pepper and toss well. Let stand for about 30 minutes before serving.

Images courtesy of Flavors of Iloilo / orangedroplet on Flickr / Iskandals / And These Thy Gifts

So far all the recipes I have shown you are Filipino ways of preparing roast chicken. The following is a recipe that caters to a more global palate.

This recipe was handed down to me by my friend and is one of the recipes I often go to for emergency pot-luck dinners because it's always a hit, never a miss. If you're wary of using too much garlic, you can use just two heads, it won't make too much of a difference. If you love garlic however, go ahead and use 40 cloves! The garlic, once roasted, becomes soft & sweet and is lovely eaten on its own or spread on some crackers. This recipe is a bit more complicated to prepare but the results are worth it, you'll see.

My friend Sheila's 40-Clove Garlic Turbo Chicken

You will need:
One whole chicken without the innards
40 cloves of garlic, crush about 10-15 of them. Leave the rest whole and unpeeled.
Thyme, Rosemary, or Basil (or all three!)
Salt, about a tablespoonful
Ground pepper (lots of it if you want it spicy)
Olive oil
Butter (optional)

Procedure:
1. Place the chicken on top of foil. Scatter some unpeeled garlic cloves all around it.
2. Insert the rest of unpeeled garlic cloves into the chicken cavity. Rub crushed garlic outside and between the skin and flesh of the chicken (meaning you'll have to put your fingers in between the skin and the flesh. Be careful not to tear the skin). You can also insert slices of butter the same places - you may skip this option if you want a healthier roast.
3. Rub the herbs, salt and pepper all over the chicken and in the cavity too.
4. Drizzle olive oil all over the chicken, make sure all surfaces are covered.
5. Wrap the whole thing in foil and place it over a wire rack inside the oven.
6. Set the turbo for 45 minutes at 180 degrees celsius (375 degrees fahrenheit)
7. Enjoy!

Images by Cynthia Arre