Thai Smoked Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with fresh carrot pickle. A delicious and unique new sandwich to make in your smoker this summer! The Sandwiches are mildly hot & sweet with some traditional Thai flavors. Chicken thighs are brined, dry rubbed and smoked in preparation for pulling, so the chicken is moist and loaded with flavor... even before the sauce is added.
The quick pickled carrots added to the Smoked Thai Pulled Chicken sandwiches add nice tangy carrot ginger flavor and slight crunch. The heat is kept mild; so more delicate palates can enjoy along with the heat lovers. The fire-eaters like myself, can simply add a dose of sriracha to their sandwiches.
Compensation for this post was provided by Cobblestone Bread Co.™ and Big Green Egg® via AOL Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not the sponsors.
The Summer of Grilling
I am dedicated to stepping up my grilling game this summer. Yes, it is time to take things to the next level, be more adventurous and more experimental in my outdoor cooking.
Big Green Egg - Grill, Smoker and outdoor oven.
As many of my foodie friends already know, a Big Green Egg® (aka EGG) is sort of an icon of home grilling. It is able to hold low smoking temperatures, as well as handle high heat grilling like a champ. With the convEGGtor accessory the EGG can even be used as an oven. As I'm already well familiar with standard grilling, my first skill I'm working on mastering is smoking.
Smoking Thai Chicken Thighs
Smoking is done at lower temperatures. The meat is slowly cooked and infused with the smoke of the smoldering hardwoods beneath it. Temperature can be held remarkably steady in an EGG. It does take a little practice to find the sweet spot to keep the heat where you want it, but the results are well worth it once you do.
Of course now that I've gained some mad smoking skills, I'm not about to spend my time lovingly brining and slow smoking meat, only to plop my heart's work onto any old bun. A good quality sesame seed roll is a must.
Making the Thai Chicken Sandwiches
Now we move into the kitchen to finish up the sandwiches.
The smoked chicken thighs are pulled and mixed with fresh chopped cilantro. The pulled chicken is then mixed with a sweet lime sauce, and a splash of fish sauce.
The pickled carrots and Thai pulled chicken are then piled onto a Sesame Roll, chosen for it's soft yet stable structure, and how the sesame seeds make for a uniform Asian theme.
Serve with your choice of side and enjoy!
Try some Asian Cucumber Salad, Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries, Southern Potato Salad or Kettle Chips with your Thai Chicken sandwich.
For dessert, serving Blueberry Lemon Cake Roll or S'mores Cupcakes would be fun choices.
Other Recipes You May Like
- Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs in Turmeric Greek Yogurt Marinade
- Instant Pot Chicken Curry
- Indonesian Grilled Chicken Recipe
- Spicy Grilled Chicken Salad with Thai Peanut Sauce Dressing
Smokey Thai Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Quick Pickled Carrots
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 package of Cobblestone Bread Co.™ Sesame Twist Hamburger Rolls
- 3 tbs chopped cilantro
- quick pickled carrots recipe below Make while chicken thighs are cooking
- *** optional Sriracha sauce
Brine for Chicken Thighs
- 3 cups water
- 2 tbs pure cane sugar
- juice of one lime
- 2 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tbs sea salt
- 1-2 hot peppers Thai bird or Serrano
- 2 cloves of garlic
Dry Rub for Chicken Thighs
- 1 tbs pure cane sugar
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
Sauce for Chicken Thighs
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tbs fresh lime juice
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce add while mixing, do not heat
Instructions
- Whisk together ingredients for the brine. Add the chicken thighs, making sure they are fully covered. Place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
- About a half hour before you are ready to grill. Fire up your Big Green Egg®. Once coals are hot, damper down to just a crack on both top and bottom. We are looking for a temperature around 280 degrees.
- Whisk together the dry rub ingredients. Remove the chicken thighs from brine, and pat dry. Discard brine. Generously coat the chicken with dry rub.
- Place chicken thighs in the EGG. Cook for 1 ½ hours, flipping once after about 50 minutes. Check temperature occasionally to make sure you are not gout over a maximum of 325 degrees, damper more narrowly to reduce temperature closer to 280 degrees.
- Prepare the Quick Pickled Carrots while the chicken is grilling (recipe below).
- When chicken thighs are removed from the grill, set aside to rest and cool a little, then pull the chicken (discard any fatty bits). Mix in chopped fresh cilantro.
- Mix sauce ingredients (except fish sauce) in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a boil reduce to a simmer. Allow to gently bubble for 2 minutes, then shut off and pour over the pulled chicken. Mix. Add fish sauce and mix again.
- Place some of the pickled matchstick carrots on the bottom half of each Cobblestone Bread Co.™ Sesame Twist Hamburger Roll. Top with a generous helping of the Thai pulled chicken (squirt on a bit of sriracha sauce if you like) and cover with top of the roll.
Ingredients
- ⅔ pound carrots
Quick Pickling Brine
- 2 ½ cups water
- ⅔ cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbs pure cane sugar
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
Instructions
- Peel and trim carrots, then matchstick slice.
- Whisk together pickling brine ingredients in a deep microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes, then whisk again to ensure salt & sugar are dissolved. Add the carrots. Make sure they are fully covered in the brine.
- Microwave until the brine come to a quick boil (about 5-6 minutes). Microwave for another minute (you may need to stop it a couple times to avoid boil over). Remove from the microwave and set aside to cool.
- When the brine has cooled to room temperature, drain. Refrigerate the carrots until ready to go on sandwiches.
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