Update: Dear Dominicans, I'm looking for your chicken: presenting my findings after two years of research
Link to the original post: Dear Dominicans, I'm looking for your chicken. : r/TipOfMyFork
I have spent the last two years researching, acquiring, using, and tasting the ingredients you gave me. These are my results:
Achiote: not easy to track down. Finally found some on Amazon. Tasty, but not it.
Maggi: not it, though adding a few drops in a dish is nice.
Adobo powder (Goya): not it. Also not easy to find. Tasty, if you like salt and garlic powder (and who doesn't?).
Deglazing the pan: not it, but nice cooking technique.
Sofrito: this is part of the answer, keep reading ;)
Sazon (the orange packs): nice, but not it.
Culantro (mexican cilantro): part of the answer.
Mexican oregano: could be part of the answer, sadly I could not track it down.
MSG: not it.
For a while I felt like I was getting nowhere. Made at least 5 types of chicken, fail after fail. But then, as if the sweet lord of Chicken had heard me, I got a brief opportunity to speak to my Dominican ex and ask him the recipe. Turns out the answer is bitter orange!
Well, at least it's part of the answer. In order to make magic Dominican chicken, one must:
Crush garlic, salt, culantro (can be substituted for a ridiculous amount of cilantro), and cilantro (the famous "verduritas") with a mortar and a pestle.
Add the juice of a bitter orange (can be substituted for a regular orange and a lime).
Marinate the chicken in that for a few hours.
Pan sear the chicken (and dump some of the marinade in the pan, or all of it if you like it strong), then put the chicken to the side.
Pour some brown sugar in the pan, and a very small amount of water. Let it caramelise. Then add tomato paste, let it simmer for a little while, add some soy sauce, then add the chicken back in.
Optional: add onions and pointed sweet pepper (red).
Optional: add water, cover and let simmer.
Cry because it tastes so good.