Chicken Inasal

From Bacolod, capital of Negros Occidental in the Visayas, where it has been the city's defining dish since at least the mid-20th century. The Manokan Country alley off Lacson Street — a row of inasal-only stalls — became the unofficial home of the dish in the 1970s. It is distinct from Luzon-style chicken barbecue precisely because there is no soy in the marinade; vinegar and citrus do all the souring.

Bacolod, Negros Occidental — Manokan Country off Lacson Street has been the unofficial home since the 1970s. No soy in the marinade, only vinegar and calamansi; annatto-stained chicken fat is the basting oil that does the color and the work.

Half a chicken splayed on the grill, basted with annatto-stained oil that turns the skin orange-red. The marinade is calamansi, vinegar, lemongrass, garlic, ground pepper — sharp and grassy, no sugar. Served with garlic rice, a saucer of chicken-fat oil for dipping rice into, and soy-vinegar-chili dip on the side. The chicken should taste of smoke and citrus, not soy.

Annatto (atsuete) seeds are steeped in warmed chicken fat to release fat-soluble bixin, the pigment that gives the skin its color. The basting oil is the load-bearing element — it self-bastes during grilling, both protecting the lean breast from drying out and laying down the orange skin. Without rendered chicken fat the color is pale; with vegetable oil instead the flavor is hollow.