Hailing from southern Thailand, Thai Tumeric Chicken (Gai Yang Khamin) is lip-smackingly delicious street food that’s sweet, sticky and savoury. The marinade is unbelievably simple: garlic, fish sauce, oyster sauce, turmeric powder and sugar. The turmeric really makes it!
Southern Thai Turmeric Chicken (Gai Yang Khamin)
This is a great one to marinade tonight and bake tomorrow, to bring authentic Thai flavours to your dinner table! It’s sweet but has layers of savoury, and is incredibly delicious for something so simple.
With the excellent street food in Thailand, it will come to no surprise that I found this during my travels. It’s a street food that hails from the south called Gai Yang Khamin, and is one of those recipes that tastes like it has way more ingredients in it than it does.
At the time I tried it, I didn’t know what it was called, though the mystery was solved through furious Googling for “yellow Thai grilled chicken” in my determination to replicate it back at home.
Street vendors grill this over smokey coals and use butterflied whole chicken. I bake it in the oven and use chicken thighs instead to make it Monday-night-friendly. This does not, however, compromise flavour – it is still ridiculously delicious!
Ingredients in Thai Turmeric Chicken
This is one of those recipes that tastes like it’s got way more ingredients in it that it does. I get a secret thrill out of finding recipes like this!!
For the juiciest, stickiest chicken with the best glaze, bone-in thighs are best. But I’ve provided directions for breast and other cuts.
Chicken – As noted above, skin-on, bone-in thighs are best because the time it takes for the skin to go sticky and golden is the same time it takes for the inside to cook through to juicy perfection. Leaner, boneless cuts, like breast and boneless thigh, cook through faster, before the surface has a chance to caramelise. However, I’ve provided directions for these – and you could always pan fry instead! Drumsticks are also an excellent, economical option – these work perfectly as a direct substitute.
Turmeric powder – Key flavour and colour for this dish. This is what makes this Thai Turmeric chicken!!
Fish sauce – Secret ingredient! Adds salt with extra layers of flavour so this otherwise simple marinade isn’t bland.
Oyster sauce – Second secret ingredient! Adds sweetness with savoury undertones.
Sugar – For extra sweetness.
Garlic – Quite a decent wack!
Pepper – I like the flavour white pepper brings to this but you can substitute with black pepper.
How to make Thai Turmeric Chicken
Pop this in the marinade tonight then bake it tomorrow! Marinade for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Then bake and baste until golden and sticky (45 minutes).
Mix the marinade in a bowl – garlic, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and turmeric.
Marinade the chicken for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
Bake on a lined tray for 50 minutes until the surface is sticky and delicious.
Baste using the tray juices at the 30 minute mark….
Then baste again at the 40 minute mark and pop it back in for a final 10 minutes to caramelise the surface.
Garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro leave if you want (it’s just for looks), then serve using the pan juices as a sauce!
What to serve with Thai Turmeric Chicken
Serve this with a pile of steaming jasmine or coconut rice and plain chunks of cucumber and tomato, something you commonly see served as a vegetable side all over Thailand. The fresh crunch of cucumber and juiciness of tomato is a nice contrast to the sweet-savoury-meatiness of the chicken, with the added bonus that you don’t have to bother with a dressing. I’m not going to argue with that!
Though, if you are a better person than me and would like to make more of an effort for your side salad, you could toss any fresh or steamed greens with Asian Sesame Dressing (for a quick option). For a more substantial side salad, try Thai Chicken Salad minus the chicken, or Thai Beef Salad minus the beef (I love the dressing of these salads).
And here are some more options for things to serve on the side:
Suggestions for sides
Or, eat it street food style – just grab the chicken with your hands and munch it on the go. You know I did! (Though the vision is slightly different – in my kitchen at home in my scruffy apron, rather than the bustling streets of Thailand.😂)
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Back to the old-style hands only video for this one! Ran out of time to do the new style with me and Dozer in it. 🙂
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Thai Turmeric Chicken (Gai Yang Khamin)
Ingredients
- 5 large chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in (~1.2kg/2.4lb) (Note 1)
Marinade
- 4 garlic cloves , finely minced or crushed using garlic press
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp white pepper , ground (sub black)
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (tightly packed cup)
Instructions
- Marinade chicken – Mix Marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat. Marinade for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced).
- Prepare – Line a tray with baking paper/parchment paper. Place chicken on the tray, skin side up. Scrape all Marinade out of th bowl and dab onto chicken.
- Bake for 40 minutes, basting at the 30 minute and 40 minute mark using the tray juices to make it golden brown and sticky, and rotate the tray as needed for even colour.
- Increase the oven temperature to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan-forced). Pop the chicken back in for a final 10 minutes to caramelise the skin.
- Rest for 3 minutes before serving with jasmine or coconut rice, and plain chunks of tomato and cucumber the Thai way!
Recipe Notes:
- Stove – Heat a skillet over medium heat. Place skin side down and cover with a lid. Cook for 5 minutes or until the skin is dark golden. Then turn and cover with a lid again. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes until cooked through, basting the skin with the residual marinade in the bowl.
- BBQ – use medium heat and cook for around 15 minutes in total, basting the skin with the marinade in the bowl).
- Other cuts:
– Drumsticks: Bake 50 minutes.
– Skinless boneless thighs: Bake 20 – 25 minutes, or stove/BBQ for 5 minutes each side on medium.
– Breast: Bake for 20 minutes, or stove/BBQ for around 5 minutes on each side on medium.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published November 2015. Updated with sparkling new photos with a recipe video added and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
When Dozer sings.
(Aka annoying, persistent bark that he quickly realised is a highly effective way to get me to play with him, on command. #sucker)
This was delicious!!
Oops, my apologies, I did not read the recipe further, now I see the extended cooking time. woops 🙂
After you increase the oven temp from 160 fan to 180 fan how much longer do you cook at that temp?
Instructions are vague there?
Thank you
Scrumptious!
So glad you enjoyed it Beverly! N x
This was a sign, I had some wine last night and I must have took some chicken thighs out of the freezer but I don´t remember doing it, found them in the fridge this morning and though, oh man, what am I going to do with them, but now I know. I´ll let you know what we think 🙂 Cheers, or “skál” as they say in Iceland x
I HOPE YOU LOVE IT!! N x
This seems to have replaced an earlier version of the recipe that included finely chopped coriander stalks. Can I ask why the change? The original recipe has been a family favourite for us for ages. I will try this version, I am sure it will be delicious too.
Hi Kerrie! To be absolutely honest, I made it without because I didn’t have any and couldn’t taste the difference. Plus the stalks also left little burnt specks on the skin (because we made it the original way as well because I just needed to double check the comparison!). One ingredient less, same flavour – so I updated the recipe 🙂 N x
I was a fan too, hope this new one is as nice!
I was wondering about that too. I loved the subtle flavour of the coriander. I wonder why it’s been changed?
Honestly, I couldn’t taste it which is why I removed it!! Explanation in message response below to Kerrie 🙂 N x
Kerrie funny you say that it was in my favourites and then I couldn’t find because the image changed. I was literally looking today to make a batch. 😊 will try it though
Hi Suzie!! Popped a message to Kerrie below about this 🙂 N x
I might start the marinade tonight, for the drumsticks that aren’t waiting in the fridge for dinner tomorrow….
I love it when you bring back recipes from the early days of the blog!
Thanks AE! I like doing it too because my photos were not so great back then and plus I wasn’t doing recipe videos!! 🙂 N xx
A fish-sauce-sceptic, a child who walked away from the marinade because of the fish sauce, and a child who said the kitchen smelled like bin juice (I disagree, but I think I see where they were coming from), all three plus another three people enjoyed this meal!!
And tonight I made your pork carnitas with great success (everyone’s happy about tomorrow’s leftovers school lunches).
Are!
Silly autocorrect…
Does it work with no-skin thighs?
We’re not fans of chicken skin and if we take off after cooking I imagine we’d lose most of the marinade flavour.
Notes say to add 1tbsp oil to the marinade when using no skin meats. And it’s really easy to remove chicken skin off thighs when raw, use a knife (or your fingers) to pull it off.
Yes! Peels straight off 🙂 N x
great, thank you! 🙂
(oops sorry I obvs didn’t read that note properly)
I used boneless chicken thighs. They were fat enough and didn’t need the oil.
He looks so happy in the water. We have 2 greyhounds who do the same thing. Something about being wrapped around a finger……
Ba ha ha, right?? N x
This looks absolutely delicious as well as easy! Will make this very soon. Love these flavors here!
Hope you get a chance to try it Deborah! N x
Wow I have made this recipe many times and I just love it. It’s a winner winner chicken 🐔 dinner 😄
Why do we take the chicken out to rest at room temperature prior to cooking?
How long would you cook it for if using a butterflied chicken?
YUM…. finding this on your page made me very happy! If you go back to Bangkok try Madam SomTum they have it (or very similar), you’ll be extremely pleased!
Oh my gosh the sauce is next level delicious. Love it so much we’ve made it 3 times this week.
Tasty, easy recipe thanks Nagi. I only had time for a one hour marinade and didn’t have any oyster sauce so subbed with Hoi sin sauce and crossed my fingers! It was delicious! Served with turmeric rice and Asian greens. Thanks for another good weekday recipe Nagi.
Fabulous- family have declared a favourite!
I cook in frypan but then change over to the baked rice (from Greek chicken & rice)
And put all in oven
Everyone loves the turmeric flavours in the rice
Nice recipe and Thanks fro sharing
Tried this tonight for the family and it was a big hit! So tasty and so easy. Definitely a new favourite!
Forgot to do the marinade until ~ 1 hour before baking it. Used squeezy tube coriander paste as we couldn’t get fresh. Delicious! First time using Squid brand fish sauce and it rocks!
Well …. What can we say? the best chicken recipe for soooo long.
It was one of those OMG this is SOOOOO good !
Thankyou Nagi, another firm favourite !
Sorry…. Forgot the stars ….