Author Notes
“What the hell is that?” you are asking yourself now, or should be. Binchotan is Japanese charcoal. It’s expensive as dinner at a fine restaurant, running about $20 a kilo. But if you are serious about cooking with fire it's time to step up your game. The good thing is that you can’t use a lot of it at one time so you won’t be filling up the kettle of your big smoker with it unless you are total dumb ass like Guy Fieri. He wouldn’t appreciate the nuance anyway. Instead a personal sized Japanese ceramic grill is the best. You can find them in any Japan Town and they are cheap. This stuff burns real hot so don’t use it with delicate fish. Save it for a good well marbled steak or as here, with well seasoned chicken pieces. —pierino
Ingredients
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3 or 4 handfuls
bintochan charcoal
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1 chicken breast and thigh or alternatively, two bone in thighs or bone in breasts
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olive oil
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2
thin lemon slices
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salt and fresh ground pepper
Directions
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Use the chimney method to ignite your coal pieces and turn them into the base of your grill. Place the grill mesh/grid over your glowing coals. Getting them started can be a pain in the butt it's easier than rubbing sticks together. I use a paraffin cube and butane stick lighter to get things moving.
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When the coals have stopped flaming and are glowing red place your chicken pieces skin side down on the grill. After ten minutes give them a quarter turn.
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After five more minutes turn them over.
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Using a good instant read like a Thermapen check the internal temperature in the thick part without touching the bone. When it hits 150F take them off and let them rest tented with aluminum foil.
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Serve with rice or salad.
Standup commis flâneur, and food historian. Pierino's background is in Italian and Spanish cooking but of late he's focused on frozen desserts. He is now finishing his cookbook, MALAVIDA! Can it get worse? Yes, it can. Visit the Malavida Brass Knuckle cooking page at Facebook and your posts are welcome there.
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