Chicken Fricassee
   
 
   
Chicken Fricassee is one of Jamaican's favorite ways to eat chicken, and it's no wonder.  It's a comforting and homey dish.  There are endless variations on ingredients, but the method is what really distinguishes it: you first marinade the chicken, then you fry it, and then you braise it in the marinade.  It's cousin, chicken in a brown sauce, is similar - but the chicken spends less time in the frying pan and more time braising.  
It's usually served with rice and peas, but I served it on its own.  
  
 
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Jamaican Chicken Fricassee
Ingredients
  
- 4 lbs chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
 - 1/4 cup soy sauce
 - 1 tomato, chopped
 - 1 large onion, chopped
 - 1 celery rib, chopped
 - 4 garlic cloves, minced
 - 3 green onions, sliced
 - 1-2 Scotch Bonnet peppers (optional)
 - 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried
 - 2 Tbsp brown sugar
 - 1 tsp paprika
 - salt & pepper to taste
 - 1 1/2 - 2 cups cooking oil
 - 1 Tbsp ketchup
 - 1+ cups water
  
Directions
 Place the chicken parts in a large bowl.  Add the soy sauce, tomato, onion, celery rib, garlic, green onions, pepper, thyme, brown sugar and paprika.  Marinade for at least 1 hour.
 Remove chicken from marinade, reserving the marinade for later.  Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
 Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.  Once hot and working in batches, fry the chicken parts for 4 minutes per side.  Remove from oil and set aside.
 Drain all but 3 Tbsp of oil from the frying pan (alternatively transfer 3 Tbsp of the oil to a clean large saute pan).  Return to medium heat.
 Add the marinade to the pan and cook until the onions caramelize, about 5 minutes.  Stir in ketchup and cook for a couple of more minutes.
 Return chicken to the pot and add 1 cup of water. Cook over medium heat, turning occasionally until the chicken is cooked through and the liquid has reduced to a thick sauce, about 30 - 40 minutes. Add more water if the sauce dries up before the chicken finishes cooking.
  
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Adapted from several recipes
 See also: Creamy Chicken-and-Mushroom Fricassee, Cuban Fricase de Pollo. 
  
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