The Hirshon Peruvian Grilled Chicken – Pollo a La Brasa

Citizens – of all the various grilled chicken recipes I have ever eaten or created, this is in the top echelon of flavor! If you love flavorful, crispy skin and moist chicken, congratulations, you’ve just found nirvana, courtesy of TFD!

Pollo a la Brasa, also known as Peruvian chicken or Blackened chicken in the United States and Charcoal Chicken in Australia, is a common dish of Peruvian cuisine and one of the most consumed in Peru. It was also one of the first true fusion recipes dating back more than 60 years and combining Peruvian and Japanese ingredients.

Specifically, this is a rotisserie chicken dish developed in Peru circa the 1960s by Roger Schuler and Franz Ulrich, who were Swiss residents living in the country.

Schuler was in the hotel business in Peru. He devised the specific method of cooking the chicken by observing his cook’s technique in preparation, and gradually, along with his business partners, perfected the recipe. He then created the Granja Azul restaurant in Lima.

Originally its consumption was specific to the wealthy people (during the 1950s until the 1970s), but today it is widely available and a typical plate of ¼ chicken with fries and a salad can be bought for about 15 soles, or just under $5.

Pollo is almost always served with creamy (mayonnaise-based) sauces outside Peru, especially spicy chili cream sauce. However, in Peru the sauces are not made from mayonnaise and that is the sauce version I will share with you. Feel free to use mayo instead if you’re so inclined.

Peruvian Cuisine was listed among the top 3 of the United States’ hottest foods in 2013. Pollo a la brasa can now be found in eateries all throughout the U.S. and is considered to be a staple item on the menu of Peruvian/American fusion restaurants.

Every Peruvian has their own version of this amazing recipe and I am no exception. Most Peruvian cuisine, including this recipe, is heavily influenced by the Japanese, as there is a large ex-pat Japanese community in Peru. The use of soy sauce in the classic recipe is proof of that.

I’ve added two additional ingredients not typically found in Peruvian pollo to my version to really amp up the flavor quotient: Miso and Yuzu Kosho, a spicy and numbing citrus paste from Japan.

Feel free to omit either ingredient if you so prefer, but the recipe is improved by the addition of both. I’ve also added some liquid smoke to simulate the grilling process traditionally used for cooking the chicken.

I’ve provided the recipes for the mandatory green and yellow sauces traditionally served with the pollo and French fries that form the classic plate of Peruvian chicken (also usually served with a salad). They are both from a famous Peruvian recipe blogger and are totally authentic.

Enjoy this flavor bomb of the finest roast chicken, Citizens! 🙂

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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