Ingredients
| 1 litre water | |
| 10g fresh thyme, bruised | |
| 1 fresh bay leaf, bruised | |
| 25g honey | |
| 50g sea salt | |
| 2 lemons, halved | |
| 10 toasted black peppercorns | |
| 1kg organic boneless chicken thighs, skin on | |
| HARISSA | |
| 50g harissa paste (hot) – I use Sabato or Alexandra’s brands | |
| 40g shallots, sliced | |
| 12g honey | |
| 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar | |
| 22ml olive oil | |
| 1 clove garlic, very finely grated | |
| 100g charred capsicum, peeled, deseeded, diced | |
| 2g sea salt | |
| COCA | |
| 185ml ice-cold water | |
| 12g fine salt | |
| 375g high-grade flour | |
| 110g butter | |
| SMOKED PAPRIKA SEASONING | |
| 10g sweet smoked paprika | |
| 8g toasted cumin seeds | |
| 4g sea salt | |
| 8g raw sugar | |
| TO SERVE | |
| Aïoli, garlic crema, crème fraîche or any fat- or dairy-based component of your preference |
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Instructions
| 1. | CHICKEN |
| 2. | Make a brine by combining all the ingredients except the chicken in a pot. |
| 3. | Heat to a simmer then remove from the heat and chill. |
| 4. | Submerge the chicken thighs in the brine and refrigerate for 24 hours. |
| 5. | Once brined, remove the chicken, lay on a tray, skin-side up, to drain, and put uncovered in the refrigerator to air dry for 24 hours. |
| 6. | Once dry to the touch, slice the chicken into pieces approximately 4mm thick and thread onto 8 bamboo skewers ready to grill. |
| 7. | HARISSA |
| 8. | Mix all ingredients and leave to stand refrigerated overnight. |
| 9. | COCA |
| 10. | Put the water, salt and flour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and knead until a dry, rough dough starts to form. |
| 11. | Add the butter and mix on a medium speed until the butter is incorporated, approximately 10 minutes. |
| 12. | Remove from the bowl into a greased tray or container, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. |
| 13. | Remove from the refrigerator and cut into two blocks for ease of rolling. |
| 14. | Dust a work surface with a small amount of flour and roll the dough to a 2mm thickness. |
| 15. | If the dough resists rolling and is shrinking back, leave it to rest for 10 minutes before continuing to roll out. |
| 16. | Once the dough is rolled, refrigerate for 1 hour to harden. |
| 17. | Lay out the dough on a flour-dusted work surface and use a 9-10cm round cookie cutter to cut the coca rounds. |
| 18. | The dough can be re-rolled twice more from the scraps and it stores well frozen for future use. |
| 19. | Store the coca on baking paper and refrigerate until needed. |
| 20. | SMOKED PAPRIKA SEASONING |
| 21. | Combine all ingredients and blitz in a blender or Nutribullet to create a fine powder. |
| 22. | TO SERVE |
| 23. | Light a fire or heat a barbecue to a high heat. |
| 24. | Once ready, lightly oil the chicken skewers and cook hot and fast on a rack or griddle to get some char and cook through, about 15 minutes. |
| 25. | Remove from the fire and dust with smoked paprika seasoning. Remove the skewers. |
| 26. | Clean the barbecue rack or griddle well and use a high heat to cook the coca for approximately 1 minute. |
| 27. | Flip and cook for 20 seconds then remove from the fire. |
| 28. | Pipe or spoon aïoli/crema onto the coca, top with harissa then the chicken pinchitos. |
Recipes and food styling Jo Pearson / Photography Tony Nyberg