31/08/2026
Pollo al Ajillo is Spanish garlic chicken done properly. No paprika, no shortcuts, just bone-in chicken, a full head of garlic, good olive oil and a hit of sherry vinegar right at the end.
The trick is treating the garlic two ways. Half the cloves stay crushed in their skins and go in early, so they turn soft and sweet while everything else cooks around them. The rest get sliced and added later for a sharper, more fragrant kick. The chicken gets browned hard, skin-side down, until it's properly golden, then simmered slowly in white w**e and stock until the sauce turns glossy.
The sherry vinegar goes in right at the finish, not as the deglaze. That's what keeps it bright and nutty instead of flat and sour. Kenji sat by the stove for most of it and got absolutely none.
Serve with crusty bread or fried potatoes to mop up the sauce.