Garlic Guava barbecue pinchos!

A taste of summer...

I made these on a whim yesterday and they ended up being SO good! all caps because I really mean that, they were very good. Having never made pinchos before, but eating them pretty much all throughout my childhood growing up in Brooklyn, and the countless summers spent in Puerto Rico, these were a real treat to attempt and get right. This isn’t a concrete recipe and I emphasize that because I don’t follow recipes down to their exact measurements⸺everyones tastebuds and tolerances are different.

Starting with the seasoning for the protein, I used chicken breast, though you can absolutely use mushrooms or tofu. Alicia Kennedy has a recipe for mushroom guava pinchos and I recommend trying her recipe, as she uses fresh guava!

Keep in mind this was for two people, if you’re making for more, just double the suggested measurements.

Protein seasoning: I of course salt and peppered my chicken, that I cut into generous chunks, to my liking. I didn’t use any adobo or sazón because honestly, I didn’t want it to take away from the guava barbecue sauce and those seasonings aren’t necessary in everything. Don’t come for me traditionalists. After the basics, I added garlic and onion powder, smoked paprika⸺for color, ground cumin, and a little bit of ground coriander, careful because it can be quite strong. I drizzled some olive oil into the bowl, just enough to coat, and worked that together with some tongs. Covered and popped it in the fridge. After marinating I took a few 10 inch skewers and let those soak in some cold water, this helps prevent your skewers from splitting.

Next…the barbecue sauce: This was made purely intuitively⸺my favorite kind of cooking. I started with about 1/4 of a cup of guava paste and a splash of water on low heat. Once reduced (Took about 10-15 minutes, my guava paste was cold) to a smooth consistency, I added 2 tbspns of sriracha and ketchup, 1 tbspn of white vinegar (use whatever vinegar you have), and stirred for another 10. Once lightly bubbling, I added four cloves of crushed garlic, and turned off the heat. The residual heat will cook the garlic and so will the pan for your pinchos. As always, taste and adjust to your liking!

Sauce done. Time to build our skewers, just slide the chicken on and you’re good to go. In a pan on medium heat add about 1 tbspn of any cooking oil, I used avocado. If you grill, you know the drill. I cooked these for about 15-20 minutes, as I slathered the chicken in the sauce every time I flipped them, about four times throughout.

Once cooked, usually these are served with a chunk of pan sobao on the end, but we don’t have that, instead I sautéed some green beans for a veggie.

These were truly incredible and I hope you try them! as always, buen provecho!