Portuguese chef shares restaurant's popular piri piri chicken recipe

Some restaurants have kept their kitchens open amid the coronavirus pandemic, but now more chefs are sharing their best kept culinary secrets so people can recreate their popular menu items right at home.

"Good Morning America" checked in with Chef Telmo Faria from his San Francisco restaurant, Uma Casa, which is known for its delicious and authentic Portuguese fare.

Since the coronavirus outbreak halted normal restaurant operations, Faria has spent time working with food organizations to prepare meals for front-line workers as well as donating basic items like yeast and flour to those who need it.

"I've shipped yeast and kosher salt as far as Florida," he said.

Uma Casa has continued its kitchen operations to fulfill take-out orders and Faria said the most popular item on the menu is his piri piri grilled chicken.

"We have a chicken that has been cut in half. For the marinade we are going to use some white wine, this is a Portuguese white wine, but you can use any dry white wine, we have a little bit of red wine vinegar, some bay leaves, some garlic cloves," he said of the staple ingredients for the dish.

The homemade Portuguese spice mix includes "a little bit of cumin, coriander, clove, and little bit of ground pepper as well, then just some kosher salt," he said.

Due to demand, Uma Casa is launching a virtual online cooking class for the Piri Piri chicken dish. The restaurant says that a portion of the class proceeds will be donated to organizations that feed front-line workers. Click here to learn more.

Check out the full recipe below and recreate Uma Casa's popular poultry in your own kitchen.

Piri Piri Chicken

Serves 4-8

Ingredients

2 chickens split in half (4 halves) or spatchcocked

For the marinade (also called vinho d’alhos):

2 cups dry white wine (vinho verde)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

7-8 cloves of garlic smashed or coarsely chopped

5-6 dry bay leaves

2 tablespoons massa de malagueta (Portuguese crushed pepper sauce, substitute Sambal Oelek if you don’t have it)

2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tsp ground black pepper

Pinch of allspice

Pinch of clove

For glaze

1/4 cup of Portuguese Piri Piri sauce (available in most specialty stores os easily found online) or substitute with favorite hot sauce

For the Piri Piri aioli:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Piri Piri sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic grated or finely minced

Directions

To make the marinade, place the ingredients together in a bowl, whisk until well combined, pour over chicken and marinade for 8-24 hours.

To cook the chicken, on a grill over medium heat, place the chicken skin side down, cook until the skin is golden brown and crispy with a slight char. Turn over, and finish cooking until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Using a brush, lightly glaze both side of the chicken with Piri Piri sauce.

Serve with fries, a green salad and Piri Piri aioli.

Mix all of the ingredients for the aioli in a bowl and whisk well to combine.