To get really good chicken drums you have to get organised in advance.
I brine my chicken drums for three to four days before cooking. To make the brining liquid, take 1 litre of water and mix in ¾ cup salt and ¼ cup of sugar. I add lemon peel, fresh thyme, bayleaves, peppercorns, garlic cloves and boil everything together to dissolve the sugar and salt and activate the flavours. Chill the liquid in the fridge – it has to be below 4°C before adding the chicken – fridge temperature is fine. Add the chicken drums and leave for 2-3 days in the fridge; the saline water travels with the aromatic flavours into the flesh. It’s easy to dry out chicken, this method helps it to stay moist while adding flavour. You can brine any chicken you want, even a whole bird.
Remove the chicken drums from the brining liquid and drip dry on a tea towel. Heat a smoker with some manuka chips; smokers are cheap to buy, you can get them from hardware stores, or use the stovetop with an oven tray lined with tin foil – place the drums on a rack over the wood chips with a baking tray over the top to seal in the smoke.
Smoke the drums for about 12 minutes only – you’re not cooking them through, just imparting a nice smoky flavour. You don’t want the smoke to be too hot when you add your drums, it should have a yellow, mustardy-gold look to it. If your smoke is too hot, it will impart an acrid taste.
After smoking, heat your oven to 180°C and bake the drums for about 15 minutes – or you can finish them on the barbecue – but you want the heat to be gentle.
This cooking method does involve a few stages, but it’s not complicated, and the end result is moist, flavourful chicken.
I like to serve the drums with miso mayonnaise. Chicken has such a gentle palate that the miso adds a nice salty, umami balance.
I start by making an aioli, which is just a mayonnaise flavoured with garlic: take 2 eggs yolks, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar and microplane in 1 clove garlic. Blitz together then slowly add in 500ml grapeseed oil or rice bran oil (don’t use olive oil as the flavour is too strong). The last thing you do is add in 1 sachet of miso paste – it’s just the soup mix miso that you can get from Asian food stores and supermarkets. Don’t be afraid of the miso, you want a good amount in there, and add a few drops of lemon juice to give it a good balance and season to taste with iodised salt and white pepper. Rensha
I actually season the miso mayonnaise three times during preparation, once right at the start, another halfway through then at the end. I teach my junior chefs to season little and often, to build up layers of seasoning. Seasoning at different stages draws different attributes from the ingredients, so it’s a good habit to get into.
When it’s time to serve, the miso mayonnaise can get a little thick, so carefully mix through about 1 Tbsp water, but be careful that you don’t split the sauce.
It’s a good idea to serve a crunchy raw vegetable with this dish; as they are nice dipped in the miso mayonnaise and they help to balance the protein and the rich sauce. I use baby fennel split lengthwise, but you can also use cucumber or celery.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
