Authentic Macau-Style Portuguese Chicken Recipe (葡國雞) (Galinha à Portuguesa)
As one of the national dishes of my hometown, Macau, this golden coconut curry is comforting, enticing, and so satisfying.
Since moving to Toronto in 2008, I searched the city to no end for an authentic version of the dish that perfectly captures the intricate cultural flavours of Macau. Disappointed and hopeless, I scoured the web to recreate a recipe that closely reminded me of the dish I grew up having. The recipe that I’m sharing here is one that I believe is the closest to the real-deal Macanese chicken meal. Enjoy!
[Recipe is adapted from renowned Macanese chef, Antonieta Manhão]
A brief history of Macanese cuisine
A tiny island region located at the base of the Pearl River Delta, Macau is the oldest European colony in East Asia, operating under Portuguese rule from as early as 1557 to as recent as 1999.
During this time, the wives of Portuguese sailors attempted to recreate European recipes with the ingredients and techniques that were locally available in the coastal Chinese region. Consequently, this dilemma gave birth to the world’s first fusion cuisine: Macanese cuisine - and its unique and vibrant blend of Cantonese and Portuguese flavors continued to develop for over four centuries.
However, outside of Macau, authentic versions of this cuisine are impossible to find. Its international replicas found in Hong Kong-style restaurants (or “cha chaan tengs”) in North America typically fail to accurately capture the slow and meticulous techniques and tastes found only in true Macanese cuisine.
Because traditional Macanese recipes are safeguarded and passed on generationally by the dwindling ethnic Macanese community that remains mostly local to Macau, the only spots in the world that serve the real-deal Macanese meal exist solely in the Sino-Portuguese region of Macau.
Learn more: Macau’s rare fusion cuisine (BBC - Matthew Keegan)
Start by marinating your chicken. Combine your spices together and rub them into your chicken thighs. This mixture may initially feel a little dry, but fret not! This will moisten into a paste as you massage it thoroughly into the chicken.
Leave your chicken to marinate in the fridge for no less than an hour but ideally overnight!
In the meantime, boil one whole russet potato and one egg for 8-10 minutes. After boiling, set them aside or refrigerate them until you are ready to start cooking.
Assemble your mise en place (or just call it “a spread of prepared ingredients” if you don’t like fancy French words). Dice your quarter onion, quarter green pepper, and half tomato into roughly half-inch cubes. Then chop your pre-boiled russet potato into roughly one-inch pieces.
Slice your chouriço, quarter your boiled egg, mince two cloves of garlic, and portion out one tablespoon of tomato paste.
Along with this, portion out two bay leaves, a handful of olives (10-12), and about a quarter cup of unsweetened coconut flakes. Remember to reserve 3-4 olives and 4-5 slices of chouriço to use as toppings later!
On medium-high heat, heat up some olive oil and pan-fry your chicken thighs until the sides are golden brown.
This should only take about a minute or two for each side. The key to this step is not to thoroughly cook the chicken but to simply brown and texture the meat’s exterior.
When you’re done, remove your chicken from the pan and set it aside. The chicken will continue cooking later on in the sauce.
In the leftover fat in the pan, toss in your chouriço slices, bay leaves, garlic, and tomato paste and fry for 30 seconds to release its flavors.
Then, quickly throw in your vegetables. Sauté the mixture until the vegetables have softened and the onions have become translucent.
Place in your potatoes, browned chicken thighs, and olives. Then, immediately pour in a cup of chicken stock along with a can of full-fat coconut milk.
As you mix to combine all your ingredients, slowly stream in one tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in two tablespoons of room-temperature water. Remember to stir your pan consistently to prevent your cornstarch slurry from clumping!
After thoroughly mixing in your cornstarch slurry, let your curry simmer uncovered for 15 minutes on low-medium heat.
Your mixture should now be a vibrant mustard yellow (or #F7B744 if you’re a graphic designer).
After simmering, place your curry into a baking dish. This is where you add your toppings: nestle in your reserved chouriço slices, olives, and quartered boiled egg.
Finally, sprinkle your dish with a generous dusting of unsweetened coconut flakes.
With your broiler on high heat, place your Portuguese chicken curry in the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the coconut flakes on top have just slightly charred.
Finally, remove your Macau-style Portuguese chicken from the oven and serve it with a bottle of Super Bock and a side of steamed rice (or bacalhau fried rice if you’re feeling extra Macanese!)
I hope you enjoy this recipe as it is near and dear to my heart!
Bon appetit!
Love, Sammi
Yield: 4
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Prep time: 40 min | Cook time: 40 min | Inactive time: 1 hour | Total time: 2H20 min
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Ingredients
Marinate your chicken in these spices:
2 tsp turmeric
¼ tsp spanish paprika
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
1½ tbsp cornstarch
Sauté these ingredients to start your sauce:
1 spicy Portuguese chouriço (sliced
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
¼ Spanish onion (diced)
¼ green pepper (diced)
½ tomato (diced)
Add these ingredients in and let simmer:
0.5 kg/1.1 lb of marinated chicken thighs (roughly 4-6 pieces)
1 russet potato (parboiled and chopped)
10-12 whole black olives
1 can of full-fat coconut milk
1 cup of chicken broth
3 tbsp cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp of cornstarch + 2 tbsp of water)
Add these garnishes before broiling:
1 extra-large hard-boiled egg (quartered)
4-5 spicy Portuguese chouriço slices (reserved from above)
3-4 whole black olives (reserved from above)
¼ cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
Combine your spice mix. Coat the chicken thighs in this mixture evenly and let it rest overnight (ideally) or for no less than an hour before cooking.
Boil your potato and egg for roughly 8-10 minutes. Set aside or refrigerate until cooking.
Prepare your mise en place. Chop your tomato, onion, and green pepper into ½ inch pieces, and your potato into 1-inch pieces. Slice your chouriço and mince your garlic. Reserve 4-5 slices of chouriço for later.
Heat some olive oil in a hot pan on medium-high heat and brown the chicken thighs in it for roughly 1 minute per side until the skin is crispy. Once browned, remove them from the pan and set aside
In the pan’s residual chicken fat, quickly brown your chouriço with one tablespoon of tomato paste, two cloves of minced garlic, and two bay leaves for 30 seconds. Then, immediately add in your vegetables.
When your vegetables have softened, add your chicken back in with your potatoes and olives. Reserve 3-4 olives for later. Then, pour in your chicken stock and full-fat coconut milk.
When combined, slowly stream in your cornstarch slurry. Stir constantly in this step to prevent clumping.
Simmer your curry for 15 minutes on low-medium heat.
Transfer your mixture to an oven-safe dish. Nestle in your quartered eggs, and reserved olives and chouriço slices into the sauce. Afterward, top your curry with a generous coating of coconut flakes.
Broil your curry on the highest setting until the coconut flakes begin to char. This should take roughly 10-15 minutes.
Remove your curry from the broiler and serve with rice.
About heartfelt recipes
heartfelt recipes is a category on Sam’s Edit where Sammi shares her favourite recipes and meal prep ideas. Since she was a child, Sammi grew up watching a lot of Food Network and has always been immersed in the diversity of international flavours by living in the multi-cultural city of Toronto. As an adult, she believes that food brings everyone together and often tries to imagine new recipes for her friends and family to enjoy.