Grilled Thai Chicken Thighs

This has been a great summer for grilling. I've been going through about ten pounds of lump hardwood charcoal every week. My charcoal of choice has been Green Egg (even though I cook on a Weber). The Green Egg Lump Charcoal is actually made by Royal Oak.

Royal Oak sets aside it's very best charcoal for Green Egg. There are big meaty chunks of charcoal in the bag. There is hardly any dust or small fragments like you find in most hardwood charcoals. When I buy it at my local hardware store (Jerry's Hardware), it comes packaged in two, ten pound bags. That makes it incredibly easy to fill a chimney....I find the twenty pound bags too unwieldy.

I prefer lump charcoal over charcoal briquettes for three reasons. First, I think the food just tastes better when cooked over pure charcoal. Second, lump charcoal burns a lot hotter than briquettes. And finally, it burns very clean with very little ash. I can go weeks without having to empty my ash catcher. Using briquettes, I had to empty the ash catcher once a week or more.

So if you have a charcoal grill, take a test run with Green Egg Hardwood Charcoal and try out this delicious recipe for Grilled Thai Chicken Thighs. This recipe serves six.


Ingredients
12 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 Thai chiles, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
 2 tablespoons brown sugar


Directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients, except the chicken, into a bowl. Stir well.
2. Place the chicken thighs in a large ziplock bag and pour the marinade into the bag. Seal bag and toss to mix. Put bag in refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours.
3. Prepare your grill for direct and indirect cooking. To achieve this,  all of the coals should be under half of the grill while the other half has no coals.
4. Remove thighs from bag and use paper towels to wipe off marinade.
5. Sear the chicken thighs over the coals for 3 minutes. Then flip thighs over and sear for another 3 minutes.
6. Move the thighs to the indirect side of the grill (no coals underneath). Cover grill and let thighs cook for 40 minutes.
7. Remove thighs from grill. Tent with foil and let them rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

Wine pairing: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc