Peri-Peri Goodness

Washington D.C...

Modern day secret city that has a plethora of buildings reminiscent of Acropolis, with big pillars and intricate statues. The city was designed by a French-American mason who was not paid for his work and still haunts the capitol looking for his money. Ok, enough of my conspiracy theories, this could go on for days. That was your mini-history lesson. Now, let's talk food.

1/2  chicken with Portuguese rice and macho peas  ©Raj Rao

In Chinatown, right by 7th and H street is a festive little place called Nando's. Funny name but when it comes to grilled chicken, they are very serious. This chicken joint originated in South Africa in 1987 and currently has restaurants in over 33 countries. The secret to their success is their one-of-a-kind famous peri-peri chicken. Piri-piri (alternately pronounced peri-peri) is the Portuguese term used all around Africa to denote African birds eye chili. This is a very spicy chili that has a Scoville rating of 75000 units. Scoville rating is......well let's just say African birds eye chili is 40 times spicier than the jalapeno pepper. So you get the idea. 

Anyway, the chicken is marinated with peri-peri sauce for 24 hours (to make sure that flavour goes down to the bone itself) and then grilled to order. Before serving it,  they baste the chicken to keep it moist and control the spiciness. The flame-grilling gives the chicken a good char on the skin. At first bite,  I get a quick tangy flavour and the delicate spiciness hits my palate, seducing the senses. A taste so subtle, yet it feels bold and all i can say is it is the best grilled chicken I have ever had in my life. It makes  KGC (Kentucky Grilled Chicken) look like airplane food.

1/2 chicken and chips ©Raj Rao

The menu is pretty simple. You choose the portion, as in quarter, half or whole chicken (yes. A whole chicken. No Jenny Craig here lol). You pick the type of sauce which ranges from plain to extra hot with wild herb and lemon as alternatives for the spice-challenged. And finally you can pick your side. Their choices for sides are chips (fries), corn on the cob, garlic bread (excuse me while I wipe the drool off my chin), Portuguese rice, macho peas and red skin mashed potatoes. Purists will usually stick to chips but I always go for the rice. The vibrant colours and rich flavours in the sides makes them a bonus and not an after thought.

Aside from having peri-peri chicken platters, you can also get the same juicy chicken in a sandwich or pita bread. They also serve wings smothered with the same fantastic peri-peri sauce. Last but not least you can also purchase the peri-peri sauce in little bottles for you to use is as a condiment or a marinade at home. I tried my extra-hot peri peri sauce on a burrito, scrambled eggs, and even tortilla chips and it made these simple dishes seem like gourmet, exotic wonders.

  

So next time you are in D.C and doing some sightseeing or dashing off to meetings, secret or otherwise,  all that walking from the Capitol to the Lincoln memorial will get you hungry.  So hop on the metro, get off at the Chinatown station and walk 2 minutes to this grilled chicken heaven. I am pretty sure this is where delicious goes when it dies. You will not regret it. 

Have I ever failed you in the past when it comes to food?

Go Peri-Peri...

Food guru out.