Chicken Inasal

I have been craving for Filipino food lately - missing chicken inasal, puto, ginisang kalabasa, bibingka, ensaymada and pandesal. Yesterday, my Filipino friends and I had a barbeque get together (summer is ALMOST here!). I thought that would be the perfect time to experiment and play with the several chicken inasal recipes I found on the internet.

The chicken turned out REALLY well, and pretty authentic-tasting! Too bad I made too little, Mitchie was still salivating for more! Vegar even said it was the best chicken he had tasted. Best compliment I got was when one of our friends (a really fantastic cook) asked for the recipe :) I wasn´t able to take any pictures - but I will next time we grill!

Ingredients (proportions as I remember it):
2 kg chicken (I used chicken thighs)
10 stalks lemongrass, finely chopped
1 whole garlic, finely chopped
4 tbsp finely chopped ginger
3 heaping tbsp brown sugar
juice of 1 whole lemon (preferably lime or calamansi)
6-8 tbsp vinegar (Datung Puti sugarcane vinegar)
3 heaping tbsp rock salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
powdered anatto (for coloring)

1. Mix all ingredients and marinade chicken for at least 2 hours.
2. Bake chicken for 30 minutes at around 170 degrees celsius (baste chicken once in a while with the marinade). Reserve the chicken drippings and mix with the rest of the marinade.
3. Roast chicken in a grill until you get the nice crispy skin (baste chicken once in a while)
4. Pour the remaining marinade ina sauce pan and heat to a rolling-boil.

Since we did not have sinamak, I used the boiled marinade as "gravy" and poured some on my steamed rice :) Sarap!