Whole chicken legs marinated in lemongrass, galangal, fish sauce, and coriander root, grilled over charcoal until charred and fragrant — the taste of Isan roadside BBQ.

Gai Yang is Thailand’s greatest grilled chicken — the dish sold at every roadside stall on every major highway in Thailand, always cooked over charcoal, always served with sticky rice and som tum. The marinade is a complex paste of lemongrass, galangal, coriander root, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar that penetrates the chicken completely during an overnight rest and creates a deeply flavoured, beautifully coloured crust on the grill.

Coriander root is the ingredient that most clearly distinguishes Thai cooking from other cuisines. The roots of the coriander plant, scraped clean and pounded with galangal, lemongrass, and garlic, produce a flavour that is simultaneously earthy, slightly citrusy, and deeply aromatic. It is an ingredient that has no substitute and no Western equivalent. Thai grocery stores sell coriander with the roots still attached — buy it whenever you see it and freeze any surplus.

The charcoal grill is the proper tool for Gai Yang. The direct heat of charcoal creates the characteristic char on the skin and the smoke adds a dimension that a gas grill or oven cannot provide. However, a very hot oven combined with a final blast under the grill can produce an excellent result. The skin must end up deeply golden, slightly charred in places, and shatteringly crispy.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 kcal | Protein: 46g | Carbs: 8g | Fat: 22g | Fiber: 1g

Grilled Thai Chicken

Recipe by By butter u0026 berriesCourse: Thai

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

420

kcal

Ingredients

•t4 whole chicken legs or 1 whole spatchcocked chicken
•tFor marinade: 6 coriander roots and lower stems, roughly chopped
•tFor marinade: 4 stalks lemongrass, white part only, roughly chopped
•tFor marinade: 4cm piece galangal, roughly chopped
•tFor marinade: 6 garlic cloves
•tFor marinade: 3 tbsp fish sauce
•tFor marinade: 2 tbsp oyster sauce
•tFor marinade: 1 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
•tFor marinade: 1 tsp white pepper
•tFor marinade: 2 tbsp coconut milk
•tFor dipping sauce: 3 tbsp fish sauce
•tFor dipping sauce: 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
•tFor dipping sauce: 1 tbsp palm sugar
•tFor dipping sauce: 2 shallots, thinly sliced
•tFor dipping sauce: 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
•tFor dipping sauce: 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
•tSticky rice and som tum to serve

Directions

Make marinade: blend or pound coriander root, lemongrass, galangal, and garlic to a paste. Mix with fish sauce, oyster sauce, palm sugar, white pepper, and coconut milk until combined.
Score the chicken legs deeply 3-4 times on each side to allow the marinade to penetrate. Coat completely and refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 hours.
Make dipping sauce: dissolve palm sugar in lime juice and fish sauce. Add shallots, coriander, and chilli flakes. Stir and set aside for 30 minutes for flavours to develop.
Prepare charcoal grill for indirect heat, or preheat oven to 200C.
Grill chicken legs over medium-indirect charcoal heat for 30-35 minutes, turning occasionally, until cooked through to 75C. Move to direct heat for the final 5 minutes to char and crisp the skin. For oven cooking: roast for 35 minutes then finish under the grill for 5-8 minutes to char the skin.
Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Serve with the dipping sauce, sticky rice, and som tum alongside.

Notes

The overnight marinade is essential. The flavour penetration that happens over 8-12 hours is dramatically deeper than a 4-hour marinade.
Coriander root has an earthy, intense flavour completely different from the leaves. Buy coriander bunches with roots attached at Thai grocery stores.
Scoring the chicken deeply allows the marinade to penetrate to the bone — vital for flavour all the way through rather than just on the surface.
The dipping sauce (jaew) is an Isan signature — its sourness and fish sauce saltiness is the perfect contrast to the rich, fatty grilled chicken.
For oven cooking without charcoal, a brief finishing blast under the hottest grill setting is essential for achieving the crispy, charred skin that defines Gai Yang.

Storage

Marinated uncooked chicken keeps in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Cooked Gai Yang keeps for 3 days refrigerated and is excellent cold or reheated. Reheat in a 180C oven for 15 minutes to re-crisp the skin. Excellent in salads, rice bowls, or eaten cold with sticky rice.

Serving Tips

Serve with sticky rice, som tum (green papaya salad), and the jaew dipping sauce. This is the holy trinity of Isan eating and each element is essential to the others. A cold Singha lager or an ice cold Coke are the most authentic Thai roadside accompaniments.