Cooking nando's chicken at home!?

[Spuddy]

Ok, complete cooking noob here. I want to start taking my own meals to work on weekends (chicken and rice). I've bought a load of chicken breasts and Im gonna cook them and freeze them and thaw em out day before work etc.

I've bought some nando's peri peri sauce 'hot' - do I apply this to the chicken BEFORE or AFTER cooking them? The bottle doesn't say.

Cheers!

 

[spoffle]

Nando's chicken? If you want to get robbed, it'd be easier just to walk around with your money hanging out of your arse pocket!

 

[Spuddy]

Eh, Im just tryna add a lil flavour to that plain chicken man. Jeeze.

 

[FrenchTart]

Here's a recipe I use regularly for peri peri chicken. Home made is far nicer than the stuff you get in Nandos

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YI_LVosFZ-xRRlC587I9d_0BHnJPMAK4MSlIkBtjbjw/edit?usp=sharing

If you're using the pre-bought sauce then I would apply before *and* after cooking for best results.

 

[spoffle]

I'm joking. I find Nando's chicken to be bland, every time I've been (3 times before I finally said never again) I've left feeling like I'd just been robbed. I really don't understand the hype.

As for the actual question, you'd apply the sauce before, you might even marinate your chicken in it the night before or something.

I like to soak my chicken in some water with bicarb added (a tea spoon per 500g of chicken, just enough water to fully cover the chicken) which tenderises the chicken very nicely, and also stops it from drying out when reheating.

After soaking in bicarb and water I'd drain and then do a marinade.

 

[Spuddy]

Here's a recipe I use regularly for peri peri chicken. Home made is far nicer than the stuff you get in Nandos

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YI_LVosFZ-xRRlC587I9d_0BHnJPMAK4MSlIkBtjbjw/edit?usp=sharing

If you're using the pre-bought sauce then I would apply before *and* after cooking for best results.

Thanks dude, I'll try that recipe in the next batch I cook up. Yeah I've already bought the sauce so may aswell use it up.

Just spread a thin covering over each chicken breast before going in the oven? Hopefully willy stop it from drying up too much!

 

[FrenchTart]

You can also dry brine the chicken to help it retain moisture. You essentially just sprinkle salt all over it and leave it in a bag in the fridge for a day. I prefer this method of seasoning/brining meat as it's a bit less hassle (and I rate the results as better - but that's more of a personal thing).

 

[FrenchTart]

Thanks dude, I'll try that recipe in the next batch I cook up. Yeah I've already bought the sauce so may aswell use it up.

Just spread a thin covering over each chicken breast before going in the oven? Hopefully willy stop it from drying up too much!

As spoffle says, you can add the sauce way in advance. In fact, I would add a small amount to each breast and then freeze them in separate plastic bags (or clingfilm if you like). Obviously allow it to defrost before cooking it. Add extra sauce once cooked to taste.

If you want to have a bit more hassle now and less later, you can also hammer the chicken breasts flat. This will make them cook quicker and more evenly, helping avoiding drying out (and waiting for them to be ready to eat when you're hungry).

 

[Spuddy]

Haha my bad on the typo, thats worrying, did I subconsciously write that? :O

Id marinade them for a day or so, but the chicken has a best before date of tomorrow and I daren't risk it haha.

What I'll have to do is add some sauce before cooking (now) and then freeze them once cooked. When I thaw them out for work I'll add a bit more sauce before dumping them in the lunch box.

As long as I know I can add the sauce before oven cooking thats fine, didn't want it to go all burnt and such like.

 

[Spuddy]

Oh another Q haha, how long in the oven would you suggest?

 

[FrenchTart]

Sounds good

It's a reasonable thing to worry about as some sauces do contain a lot of sugar which will more easily burn. The Nandos stuff isn't too bad for that though.

edit: Personally I'd flatten them a bit (Just hit them whilst in a bag with a chopping board or heavy pan. You don't need to make them thin as a pancake but just a bit thinner than normal.) and then put them under the grill rather than oven. Make sure there's a fair gap between the grill plate and the breasts and then cook for maybe 5 minutes per side on highest. You'll want it a little charred but ideally still moist in the middle. Chicken breasts are safe to eat with an internal temperature of 60C so you don't need to cook it until it's dried out cardboard.

 

[ttaskmaster]

I've bought some nando's peri peri sauce 'hot' - do I apply this to the chicken BEFORE or AFTER cooking them? The bottle doesn't say.

If you want "UK" style Nandos, cook the chicken and then pretty much just slap some sauce over the top.
If you want "Original South African" style Nandos, marinade for about 24hrs, then cook the chicken in the sauce, then add a flame-grill finish, then slap more sauce on and serve.

However, this is still 'fast' food, so consider checking out some authentic peri-peri chicken recipes from SA and especially Mozambique.

 

[FrenchTart]

Isn't the sauce recipe originally Portuguese rather than South African? I know that piri piri is a SA chilli/spice of course.

 

[Dave M]

I'd marinade in the sauce, then toss in the nandos powder before putting in the oven, I put it on a grill over a pan, as I don't like it sitting in the wet.

 

[monkeyspank]

the thin bottles of sauce are a condiment really. You can also get Nandos brand marinade and rubs that would be used before cooking. also the 'cook-in' sauces that give you a wet sauce afterwards. there are lots of types of nandos 'sauce'

 

[Haggisman]

Not really tried with chicken breasts, but my usual "Nandos" chicken consists of spreading chicken wings in a baking dish, covering liberally with a bottle of the hot marinade, and stick in the oven for 45 mins (turn every 15).

You end up with nice juicy wings, and a nice bit of sauce to stick on some rice

If you don't want the bones, I'd try some thigh meat, as it will be far more tender than breast

 

[Scam]

Oven cooking chicken breast, bleurgh.. Then again Nandos, bleurgh! I think you're going to be a very disappointed man for going to all this effort.. just my 2p.

And what about thawing cooked chicken to eat? I'm not so sure about that. We always have shredded roast chicken in our freezer, but it gets re-cooked properly in a thai curry or something. I'd be wary of eating thawed chicken from the freezer without re-heating it properly first.

 

[tom_e]

And what about thawing cooked chicken to eat? I'm not so sure about that. We always have shredded roast chicken in our freezer, but it gets re-cooked properly in a thai curry or something. I'd be wary of eating thawed chicken from the freezer without re-heating it properly first.

Why? It's been cooked so the bacteria has been killed it's been frozen so nothing else will have grown and as long as you don't defrost it in a warm room for days it'll be fine to defrost and eat without reheating.

 

[spoffle]

Not really tried with chicken breasts, but my usual "Nandos" chicken consists of spreading chicken wings in a baking dish, covering liberally with a bottle of the hot marinade, and stick in the oven for 45 mins (turn every 15).

You end up with nice juicy wings, and a nice bit of sauce to stick on some rice

If you don't want the bones, I'd try some thigh meat, as it will be far more tender than breast

Oven cooking chicken breast, bleurgh.. Then again Nandos, bleurgh! I think you're going to be a very disappointed man for going to all this effort.. just my 2p.

And what about thawing cooked chicken to eat? I'm not so sure about that. We always have shredded roast chicken in our freezer, but it gets re-cooked properly in a thai curry or something. I'd be wary of eating thawed chicken from the freezer without re-heating it properly first.

This is why I recommend the bicarb step.

 

[FrenchTart]

Thigh fillets are way better than breast, bicarb, brine or otherwise I'd still dry brine the thigh if you can be bothered though.