Jamaican Jerk is a time-honored flavor profile that is neither for the
faint of heart or the casual eater. This is serious flavor and heat at
full speed ahead! I once heard it described that Jamaican Jerk
should be “Challengingly Spicy” and we feel we do it justice on that
front. We use only the finest grade of imported Jamaican Allspice in
our blend along with Red Savina Habañeros for the two primary
flavors along with a full supporting cast of citrus, tropical and aromatic
ingredients to provide the full spectrum flavor of Jerk Seasoning.
Take a voyage out of your comfort zone and get a taste of
Jamaica!

Jamaican Jerk Glaze

Suggested preparation instructions

What is Jamaican Jerk?

Jamaican Jerk typically has 3 components to what contributes to the overall flavor which are the liquid marinade ingredients, dry spice ingredients, and a very specific indigenous way of BBQ’ing the meat. We have incorporated all the wet ingredients into a dry form so the spice blend has the full spectrum of flavor. In the U.S. it is nearly impossible to replicate the BBQ method they use in Jamaica and my closest attempt at it will be the subject of a blog post in the future, but for now, we will focus on the food flavors. By using the seasoning in a glaze or sauce it creates a really great finishing sauce and allows you to cook your meat or veggie in whatever way you prefer without being overly complicated. No marinade required although the meat does benefit from a light rub with some of the seasoning before cooking, but is not necessary as the glaze/sauce really brings all the flavor to the finished product.

Ingredients you will need:

Sweet Glaze for Wings

2-3 level Tbs of Jamaican Jerk seasoning, 1 regular can of pineapple chunks in Juice (Not Heavy Syrup!), 6 Tbs of Dark Brown Sugar (light ok), 1 bunch of fresh green onions, and a protein of choice.

Savory Sauce

3-4 level Tbs of Jamaican Jerk seasoning, 1 regular can of pineapple chunks in Juice (Not Heavy Syrup!), 3 Tbs of Dark Brown Sugar (light ok), 1 bunch of fresh green onions. 1 Tbs of oil, .5 Tbs of corn starch, and a protein of choice.

 The Glaze:

Combine the seasoning with 6oz of liquid in a saucepan: Start on the conservative side with the seasoning, you can always add more. For the liquid, you can use all pineapple juice from the can, all water or half and half of each. Add the brown sugar and heat on medium until it comes to a low boil, whisking/stirring often. Don’t leave unattended or forget to stir, the sauce can burn or overflow the pan. Once at a low boil, turn to high heat for up to a minute and stir vigorously and then remove from heat. The sauce should thicken to a syrupy consistency as it starts to cool. The heat of the cooked meat will loosen up the glaze when mixed together so you want the glaze to be pretty thick or it won’t stick to the wings. If still too runny then reduce on a medium simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.

This recipe yields about 1/2-2/3 cup of glaze depending on how much it reduces and is appropriate for about 10 wings.

 The Sauce:

Combine the seasoning with 8oz of liquid in a saucepan: Start on the conservative side with the seasoning, you can always add more. For the liquid, you can use all pineapple juice from the can, all water or half and half of each. Add the brown sugar, oil of your choice, and corn starch then heat on medium until it comes to a low boil, whisking/stirring often. Don’t leave unattended or forget to stir, the sauce can burn or overflow the pan. Once at a low boil, turn to high heat for up to a minute and stir vigorously and then remove from heat. The sauce should thicken to a gravy consistency as it starts to cool.  This sauce is best served on meat accompanied by rice to soak up the sauce. If you plan to baste meat on the grill, double the corn starch so it will stick to the meat or use the glaze recipe. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.

This recipe yields about 1.5 cups of sauce depending on how much it reduces and is appropriate for about 2.5 pounds of meat or 2-3 servings.

Meat/Veggie:

Chicken is the most traditional meat for this cuisine, but pork chops or Jackfruit also works well. We personally love this on chicken wings or grilled boneless/skinless chicken breasts/thighs.  Chicken Wings can be fried, baked or cooked in an air fryer if you have one, which is our favorite way to do them. Other cuts of chicken or pork can just be grilled up like normal or cooked without any special method.

Assembly:

Cook your choice of meat or veggie how you want to and then chop into bite-size pieces, if not making wings, and place in a mixing bowl. Add enough glaze/sauce to coat well, but don’t drown the meat. We recommend trying the glaze/sauce by itself to gauge how spicy it is before committing too much to your meat. Add an appropriate amount of pineapple chunks and green onion, chopped into 1/2″ slices, to the bowl and toss with the meat. Add more glaze/sauce as desired.

Red beans and rice make good side dishes to round out this entree. Banana or Plantains Foster makes a good dessert.

Jerk Wings	Grilled Chicken Thighs

All of our products come vacuum sealed in a non-reactive and food safe Mylar bag with a tamper-evident and heat-sealed tear-away strip. The Mylar bag features a reusable zipper closure for ease of use and storage which eliminates needing to transfer the product to another container. These bags are light, oxygen, and odor-blocking for maximum protection from environmental factors that cause oxidation and rapid aging of volatile oils and flavor compounds. All of our products are sealed in these Mylar bags the day they are batched to ensure the best preservation of freshness and quality possible. Each product will also contain a 3-gram silica gel Tyvek desiccant packet to help absorb any moisture and oxygen in the bag over the course of its use. The desiccant packets are FDA approved as pharmaceutical/food grade and 100% non-toxic. We strongly encourage you to press all air out of the bag after each use before zipping close and to store bags in a cool place away from direct sunlight or any heat sources, such as an oven or microwave.

Quality

-This is what we believe in, it’s why we are here-

                        In this industry, all the big players in the market have to produce at such large volumes in order to be able to anticipate the demand of the market that product is often stockpiled and sitting around waiting for distribution. “It’ll always be available and it’s always on the shelf” is something you can count on. The downside is that when you go shopping and buy a jar of seasoning from any major brand in a grocery store the odds are very high that the product you picked up was produced a long, long time ago in a factory far away.

             I think we can all relate to what an old can of coffee grounds or a week old bottle of wine tastes like after it has been sitting around too long. It may have been good, even great, once… but time ages everyone and everything, sometimes for better, but usually for worse.

           Quality and Freshness are the primary goals that we at Rae&Ryan’s Gourmet Foods are looking to excel at, well besides creating new and unique flavors that will knock your socks off! We do not subscribe to the concept of compromising quality for the gains of quantity. We are not trying to make the fastest buck possible and get out before it all falls apart. We are working every day to create a brand you can trust and rely on to be the best and never compromise.

            That sounds good and well, but what does that actually mean you say? Well, that means that we are as close to the source of the ingredients as possible so we know how old they are. A select few ingredients we grow ourselves here at the homestead and it doesn’t get fresher than that. The rest we source fresh/raw and organic as much as possible which gets processed and dried on site. The ingredients we can’t grow or source fresh we source already dried from only the highest of high-quality suppliers who also believe in our philosophy of quality over quantity.

           What this means for you as the consumer is that you are guaranteed to receive a product that was produced within the last month or less, often less. Some of our less common products or large volume orders are made to order and shipped within three days. When you open a vacuum-sealed pouch of seasoning from Rae&Ryan’s your nose will know that what you hold in your hand has not been sitting in a hot factory, a flatbed truck or some lonely shelf for months or years. Your taste buds will confirm that what you have is the freshest and most potent seasoning available, short of going to your Grandma’s house.

            Stale and bland food doesn’t make any more sense than carrying a dull pocket knife or walking around with your shoelaces untied. I think we can all agree that:

Life’s too Short for Flavorless Food!

Some graphics provided by:
Chili Pepper Vectors by Vecteezy