pollo guisado

serves 4 but you can easily double this recipe!

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
¼ cup sazón criollo
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ranchero sazón criollo (just use kosher salt if you don’t have or another sazón seasoning like this one)
2 tablespoons neutral oil
~1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 cups water
1 white or yellow onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced

STEP 1
Clean up the chicken thighs if needed (rinsing and removing any extra fat) and pat dry. Place the chicken, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, sazón criollo, garlic, and ranchero sazón criollo in a large mixing bowl and toss together. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. Let the chicken sit out of the fridge for 30 minutes before you are ready to cook it.

STEP 2
You will have to work quickly on this next part, so have your chicken and sugar ready. Scrape off as much of the marinade as you can off of the chicken, but save the marinade! Add the oil to a large skillet (preferably cast iron) and heat over medium-high heat. Sprinkle a little bit of the sugar in one spot in the skillet, big enough to cover one chicken thigh. Let it cook until it starts to caramelize and changes to a light brown color, then lay one thigh skin-side down directly over the sugar. Repeat this process with the sugar and chicken until each thigh is in the skillet. You may need to work in batches if your skillet cannot fit all 6 thighs. Let the chicken cook, undisturbed, for 5 minutes or until the skin is nice and crispy. While the chicken is cooking, mix the tomato paste, bouillon cube, and water into the bowl with the leftover marinade.

STEP 3
Remove the chicken thighs from the skillet and set aside. Leave any fat in the skillet and add the onions and celery. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, or until soften, stirring occasionally. Add the leftover marinade mixture and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the skillet. Bring to a boil and let boil for 1 minute. Then turn the heat down to low and snuggle the chicken thighs back into the skillet, skin-side up. Cover and let simmer for about 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165. Enjoy with rice and tostones!