Ping Gai Chicken - Laotian "Grilled Chicken Chicken"

Remember that time you waited all day for your “low and slow” beef brisket to finish cooking, and once it finally did, it was dry? It left you disappointed, disillusioned, and wondering what went wrong. Well, I won’t bore you with all the scientific, easy-to-Google details, but basically meat can “stall” during long, low-heat methods, and never reach the proper internal temperature to fully release all the succulent goodness. 

If you really nail it, the results can be amazing, and I’ve gotten lucky a few times on the smoker, but this significantly faster method is much less risky. Unless you really overcook it, you shouldn’t have to worry about dry meat, and you can instead worry about other things, like whether you cooked enough meat. By the way, I'm not sure if they invented it, but I adapted this from something I saw watching an America's Test Kitchen rerun, so if you have issues, please contact them.

Speaking of enough meat, if you decide to use a whole brisket, this method will work as shown, but you’ll probably need to give it a little more time at the end to ensure it’s fork tender. Or not, but there’s only one way to find out, so have your poking fork handy, and use as needed. Whether you’re looking for a brisket recipe for Passover, or you’re simply interested in moister meat in less time, I really hope you give this easy, baked brisket recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 portions Easy Baked Beef Brisket:

(Adapted from America's Test Kitchen)

3 pound beef brisket (the flat half of a full brisket)

4 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

For the gravy/braising liquid:

2 tablespoons butter, oil, or rendered fat

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 cup apple juice or cider

- Bake at 325 F. for 1 1/2 hours, then reduce oven to 250 F., and cook for about 2 hours 15 minutes, or until fork tender.

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