Jamaica is an island that has a rich culture and a wonderful culinary heritage. No trip to Jamaica would be complete without trying some of the island’s unique and flavorful cuisines. One of the must-see experiences requires a sense of adventure. To taste the chicken in a pan, you have to make a stop at one of the many corners where chefs practice their trade. Chefs can usually be found on the streets from dusk until the wee hours of the morning. The chefs primarily cater to Jamaicans returning home from work and locals and tourists involved in the party or bar scene, or other late-night adventures.
Skillet chicken in Jamaica is traditionally prepared as a “jerked” chicken cooked by street chefs. Jerk style is a way of cooking that originated in Jamaica, where meat is either dry seasoned or wet marinated with a spicy and often hot seasoning known as “jerk seasoning.” Each chef will have their own unique blend of jerk seasonings made from the combination of bell pepper, cinnamon, chives, nutmeg, garlic, thyme, scotch chili peppers and other ingredients. Some creative pan chefs have also been known to use tamarind, peanut butter, teriyaki, and other style seasonings when cooking with their portable drum grills.
Skillet chicken chefs use portable steel drums cut in half as grills. The drums are cut to length and then held together with hinges. In addition, holes are drilled in the drums to provide ventilation.
Pan chicken is as much a part of the Jamaican identity as reggae music, speedy sprinters, and beautiful white sand beaches. When visiting Jamaica, Skillet Chicken, which is Jamaica’s most popular street food, is definitely worth a try. The chicken is cooked until the meat is very tender and is usually accompanied by bread, yams, breadfruit or fiesta. The presentation is very simple, but the taste is very tasty. Some people like to add hot pepper sauce and ketchup to their skillet chicken, while others like to savor it just with the seasoning that it was grilled in. Whatever your preference, one of the advantages of skillet chicken, especially for travelers on a budget, is that it is a relatively cheap and filling meal.
It is difficult to find pan chicken outside of Jamaica, but it can be found in select parts of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom thanks to the movement of people within the Jamaican diaspora.