What is Peri Peri Chicken?
What is Peri Peri Chicken? Peri Peri Chicken is a spicy chicken (also known as Piri Piri Chicken, or Pili Pili Chicken) that’s a celebration of global cultures. It is marinated then basted with Peri Peri Sauce which is essentially a complex, bold, multi-faceted hot sauce that translates into dynamically spicy, sweet, sour, tangy, citrusy, salty chicken.
Where did Peri Peri Chicken come from? Peri Peri Chicken was introduced in Angola and Mozambique by Portuguese settlers who discovered the bird’s eye chili in the area, the namesake of the dish. While Peri Peri Chicken is still gaining ground in the United States (particularly in Illinois, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia and Texas), it is already extremely popular in other parts of the world, thanks to the South African chain Nando’s. Nando’s has more than a thousand locations globally, and is rapidly growing. If you’ve ever eaten at Nando’s, then you already know what the hype is about!
What does Peri Peri mean? Peri Peri is a Portuguese name for Pilipili, a Swahili term meaning “Pepper-Pepper,” which refers to the African Bird’s Eye Chili in this case.
What is Peri Peri made of? Peri Peri Chicken is traditionally made with whole chicken or bone-in chicken marinated in Peri Peri Sauce. The sauce is a blend of African bird’s eye chili peppers, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and spices and herbs such as paprika and oregano.