Here in Southern California, shredded chicken is one of the most popular fillings for street tacos. To make Chicken Tacos Al Carbon, you basically grill a whole chicken over the fire, cut into bite-size pieces, and enjoy it on corn tortillas with a bit of onion and cilantro, fresh squeeze of lime, and your favorite hot sauce or salsa.
Chicken Tacos Al Carbon
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
Marinade
- 1 cup fresh orange juice
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 packet achiote paste optional for color
- 1 dried ancho chile stemmed
- 6 dried chiles de árbol stemmed
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Instructions
- To begin, place the chicken breast side down and use your kitchen shears to cut along both sides of the backbone from the neck to the tail.
- Remove the backbone and open the chicken up flat. Place skin side up and press down again to flatten the bird.
- To prepare the chicken al carbon marinade, combine the marinade ingredients in a blender. Puree for about a minute.
- Place 1 cup of the marinade in a large Ziplock bag, and add your chicken. Remove excess air, swish it around to coat, and refrigerate for several hours to overnight. Reserve the remaining sauce for basting.
- Set the grill to about 400F. Place the chicken breast side up onto the grill. Grill this until it’s lightly browned – about 15 minutes or so.
- Continue flipping and basting the chicken every 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160-165°F. Once you take the chicken off the grill, it will carry over cook to the recommended temperature of 165F.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
- To serve, cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Prepare your tacos al carbon. Place on the warm corn tortillas and top with chopped onions, cilantro and fresh lime. Enjoy!
