Meaning
To brown meat in hot oil, or in burnt/caramelised sugar, to build colour and deep flavour before stewing it — the first step of brown stew chicken, brown stew fish, and stew peas. To 'brown down' the chicken is to sear and colour it, often in 'browning' or caramelised sugar, so the finished stew is rich, dark, and savoury. It is a foundation move of Jamaican home cooking.
Examples
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Brown down di chicken inna di hot oil.
Brown the chicken down in the hot oil.
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Burn di sugar first, den brown down di meat.
Caramelise the sugar first, then brown down the meat.
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Di stew taste better when yuh brown it down good.
The stew tastes better when you brown it down well.
Origin
From 'brown' + 'down'; to sear/colour meat for stewing (often in browning). See [[cook-down]], [[browning]].
How it’s used
To brown/sear meat (often in caramelised sugar) before stewing. See [[cook-down]], [[browning]].