Braai - South African Barbecue
9˚42.184’ S, 14˚50.118’ W
One of the items we bought at Woolworths (whose meat and produce have held up surprisingly well, in spite of a freezer that doesn’t quite freeze and a fridge that struggles to keep things below 40˚ F) was chicken fillets pre-seasoned with a “braai” rub. We had them for the first time last night, cooked on a gas grill (which apparently disqualifies it as authentic Braai, but Wes said we can’t have an open wood fire on the boat….pfff), and the crew gave it a thumbs up (which is a good thing, because we have another package and a half to get through).
The packaging was labeled “Braai - Smoked Paprika & Coriander Chicken Steaks.” The list of ingredients is as follows:
- Sea salt
- Chili powder
- Smoked paprika
- Coriander
- Citric acid
- Garlic
- Onion
- Cumin
I did a little searching on the web and found the following recipe from The Food Network that looks fairly close:
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
There was no sugar listed as an ingredient on what we ate last night, and it was in fact very savory, so one might consider swapping in chili powder for the brown sugar in the above recipe. It could also use a little acidity, so some lime juice or white wine vinegar could also be added.
South Africans seem to consume a wider variety of meat than Americans. Lamb and mutton were much more prevalent (Dan grilled Woolworths’ lamb chops a few nights ago, which were outstanding), as were game meats such as Ostrich (which we also bought at Woolworths), Kudu (which I ordered for our last dinner in Cape Town) and Springbok. The above rub is apparently well-suited to those types of meats.
A more in-depth description of Braai can be found here.