This recipe is based on Peruvian Roasted Chicken with Spicy Cilantro Sauce by Melissa Clark that was published in The New York Times. I modified the recipe to chicken breast because they were on sale at Safeway for 99 cents a pound so I stocked up on them and that’s what I had. Peruvian Chicken should be made with whole bird or chicken parts with skin……….But…….. WOW!….. This recipe makes SUPER FORKING DELICIOUS Spicy CHICKEN AND FORKING DELICIOUS SPICY SAUCE! I like Melissa Clark’s recipe very much because it’s a very good recipe and she also gives you a lot of freedom with the recipe…such as the recipe should be made with aji amarillo paste and aji panca. Melissa suggest substitutes of to use sriracha or sambal and pasilla Chile powder since most people don’t have Aji Amarillo or aji panca paste in their pantry. She does explain you don’t get the same taste but it’s still delicious (and it is). This recipe does indeed come out SPICY…..but is delicious to people who can handle spicy. The original recipe is pretty much the same except whole chicken or parts with bone and skin, marinated 2-12 hours, oven roasted at 450 degrees F 25-35 minutes for split breasts and 35-45 other chicken. If I was doing this recipe again I’d say to get or order bottled Sweetie Drop Peppers. I would have chopped some up and spread them on top of the chicken over the sauce with some on the side if I knew in advance HOW FORKING AMAZING they are on this dish…… The Sweetie Drop Peppers are the small jarred Peruvian peppers I have in photos. The taste of them really makes the dish POP…Sweetie Drop Peppers are a little pickled and sort of sweet and bring the dish up another level. I saw Sweetie Drop at Whole Foods this week but never noticed them there before.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

2 large chicken breast – cut into 8 servings that are lightly pounded

6 cloves garlic – microplane (for marinade)

3 Tablespoons soy sauce (for marinade)

1 Tablespoon Aji Amarillo paste – suggested substitutions are sriracha or sambal (I used Korean Chili Paste) (for marinade)

1 Tablespoon lime juice (for marinade)

1 teaspoon aji panca paste – suggested substitution is 1 teaspoon pasilla Chile powder (for marinade)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (for marinade)

1 teaspoon ground cumin (for marinade)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper (for marinade)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (for marinade)

1 cup flour – to coat dried off marinated chicken – (I used brown rice flour but any flour is fine…the flour is not to bread but seals in the juice from the chicken)

canola oil as needed to pan fry chicken

1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems (sauce)

3–4 jalapeño peppers – seeded and diced (sauce)

1/4 cup 1 oz crumbled feta cheese (I didn’t have any so I substituted soy milk) (sauce)

1 garlic clove – minced (sauce)

1 1/2 Tablespoons lime juice – more to taste – (sauce)

2 teaspoons fresh oregano or basil – (sauce)

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt – more to taste – (sauce)

1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard – (sauce)

1/2 Tablespoon Aji Amarillo or other suggested chili paste such as sriracha or sambal (I used Korean Pepper paste) – sauce

1/2 teaspoon honey – (sauce)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin – ( sauce)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil – (sauce)

lime wedges for garnish

optional – but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND to order some Peruvian Sweetie Drop Peppers for this dish as they REALLY bring the dish up another level and make the dish POP!

Directions

Put chicken pieces in a ziplock bag.

In a medium bowl add the 6 micro-planed garlic cloves, soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon Aji Amarillo paste, 1 Tablespoon lime juice, aji panca paste, 1 teaspoon dijon, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Mix well.

Pour the marinade into the ziplock bag with the chicken. Try to push most of the air out of the bag and zip it shut. Push the marinade around the chicken and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or about three and a half hours but no longer than four hours. (This timing is for boneless breasts)

After 3 1/2 hours take the chicken out of the marinade and blot each piece dry.

Get another ziplock bag and add a cup of flour to it. Put the chicken in it and give the chicken some good shakes. Set to the side.

Put a good size fry pan on medium high heat and add about a 1/4 inch of canola oil. When the oil is hot add the chicken. Depending on the thickness of chicken and temperature of the oil …the timing will differ……You should need about 5 minutes a side…but that can differ. Place cooked chicken on a cooling rack or a sheet pan that’s lined with paper towels.

While your cooking up the chicken you can make the sauce. In either a blender or with a blender stick and container add cilantro, jalapeños, feta cheese, garlic, lime juice, oregano or basil, sea salt, dijon, Aji Amarillo, honey, cumin and olive oil and blend till emulsified.

Serve chicken with sauce and lime wedges and I recommend Peruvian Sweetie Drop Peppers. I also recommend to heat the lime wedges up…….It makes a big difference.

It’s delicious, moist, very flavorful and spicy! A special thanks to The New York Times for sharing Melissa Clark’s Wonderful Recipe!