Last night I made Salt Baked Chicken. The recipe came straight out of the January / February Issue of Cooking Light Magazine and was part of their Chinese New Year menu. (Yes, I realize this is not a very pretty picture and that I should have tucked the wings under. If you want a perfect picture, get a copy of the magazine, sheesh.)
Anyway, I probably make a baked chicken every week, more for the leftovers than anything else. To me, most baked chickens are down right boring. And, if you pay attention to those stupid pop up timers you can guarantee yourself a dried out, chewy bird.
Now, I have discovered a recipe that takes the boring out of the bird and replaces it with a juicy bite full of asian infused flavors. I didn’t think it was possible quite frankly, but I now stand corrected. The original recipe you will find below with no alterations. My personal alterations were as follows. I did not have dried tangerine peel, so instead I substituted 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup water and the juice of one lime. I did not have green onions and I don’t think it mattered, oh, and I used kosher salt instead of sea salt.
This is not a recipe for the weeknight if you both work and don’t get started until after 5pm since the chicken needs to rest for an hour at room temperature before baking. Don’t try to skip this step. I think it is key to creating a moist and juicy bird.
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 (1 x 2 inch) strip of dried tangerine peel
1 (4/5 ounce to 5 pound) roasting chicken
5 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
2 Tablespoons minced ginger
2 Tablespoons Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry
1 Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
2 green onions, cut into 1 – inch pieces
DIRECTIONS
Combine 2 1/2 cups boiling water and tangerine peel in a bowl; cover and let stand 30 mintues. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving liquid. (If you are skipping this step as I did, just mix 1 cup orange juice with 1 cup water and juice of one lime and set aside.)
Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Trim excess fat. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Rub 1 tablespoon salt under skin; let stand 5 minutes. Rinse chicken under cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken on the rack of a roasting pan; let stand 1 hour at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Transfer chicken to a work surface. Combine remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, shallots, ginger, wine, soy sauce, oil and honey in a small bowl. Rub 3 tablespoons shallot mixture inside cavity of chicken. Place onions and tangerine peel inside cavity. (I put in the lime halves.) Rub remaining shallot mixture under loosened skin.
Place chicken, breast side up, on the rack of a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Pour reserved tangerine soaking liquid (or orange juice mixture) into a shallow roasting pan; place rack in pan.
Bake at 425 degrees for 1 hour or until a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees (for me this took 50 minutes) and skin has turn
ed a dark golden brown color. Let stand 15 minutes. Discard skin and slice. Yield: 8 servings
I served this fabulous bird with some oven roasted butternut squash and red onions over sauted Dandelion Greens which were delicious. I think next time though, I will pair it with some interesting asian side dishes. If you have some suggestions for me, please send them my way.
I’ve always wanted to try baking a chicken that way. Don’t know what I’m waiting for, it looks fabulous!
This looks fabulous. I love Cooking Light but let my subscription lapse when I couldn’t keep up with the new issues (I have five years’ worth). I will definitely give this a try. Thank you!
I have found the absolute best way to get a moist roast chicken is to brine it! Before I head off for work, I put the chicken in a medium density brine and refrigerate, (I use 1 1/2 cups of diamond kosher salt in one gallon of water) When I come home I take the bird out of the brine, pat it dry, season it to taste with fresh herbs, etc. – my personal favorite is lemon juice/zest and fresh basil putting a cut up lemon or two in the cavity)and rubbing the zest and chopped fresh basil over the bird after wetting it with the fresh squeezed lemon juice. In fact I made that the day you posted this recipe. I put in some fresh red and gold beets to roast while the chicken was cooking. Then go sit and relax for the 50 minutes to hour! All I needed to add for a great dinner was a nice salad of baby greens, which I had picked up on my lunch hour. Very easy delicious weeknight dinner!
Mary
Hi Mary, thanks for the tip. What kind of bowl/pot/bag do you use to hold the chicken and the brine?
That sounds yummo!
To hold the chicken and brine in the refridge, I usually use a 2 gallon zip lock type bag, (Shop Rite brand makes them) Though I always put it in a deep roaster pan, just in case of leaks. (I had that happen once, what a mess!) If doing a larger bird, like a capon or turkey, I have a very large enamel stock pot (used only for that it is great for holding stuff but not for cooking) I personally do not use aluminum pots to brine in due to the salt/aluminum reaction.
This looks fantastic… love the seasonal use of tangerine with the Asian flavors.