CHINESE TWIST ON ROAST CHICKEN

Roast chicken is always a good style of comfort food, some people have a blank look when I ask them, "Hey how are you going to make that 3 1/2 pound bird?" They respond with, "I guess like I'll just rub some herbs on there and roast it with some veggies."

I'll give you some ideas and make a roasted chicken with a Chinese twist. The ingredients are as follows.

INGREDIENTS

1 3 1/2 pound chicken (whole)
1 1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ume vinegar
3 inch ginger minced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs oyster sauce
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 orange peeled and the meat smashed so juices comes out
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

DIRECTIONS

1. Rinse off the whole chicken, and pat dry. Make some slits with a sharp pairing knife on the breast, legs, wings. (Reserve the marinade, don't throw it out in the sink. This will be a sauce)

2. Mix all of the ingredients from the soy sauce to the pepper, mix it well. Place the chicken into a non reactive bowl, with the mixture liquid. Cover with foil or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about a whole day.

3. Remove from bowl, and place in a roasting pan. Mix the cornstarch and water and set aside. Bring to room temperature, leave out about 30 minutes.

4. Turn on the oven to 450 degrees F. (If using a convection oven, you may need to watch the temperature or the time roasting).. Every oven works differently remember that. 

5. Place chicken in oven on center rack. Roast chicken for 30 minutes, then lower the heat to 325 degrees for 30 minutes and remove from oven. (But remember to keep an eye on it, if you see that the chicken isn't cooking well, then it needs to cook more, or if it is burning, then take it out.)

Note: You want the skin to be crispy, that's the Chinese twist. Use an instant read thermometer to see if the chicken registers about 160 degrees F. it should be good to go. And always remember the chicken continues to cook when you take it out of the oven.

6. Now take out a small saucepan, add in the marinade you saved. Mix the mixture of cornstarch and water one more time. Bring the marinade to a boil, then turn down to a medium simmer, add in the cornstarch mixture, simmer until thickened. Season with more sugar, or salt if needed. Set aside.

Place the chicken on a serving platter, using a basting brush, brush the thickened sauce (marinade) all over the chicken.

To serve, using a Chinese cleaver for the right effect, or a knife, slice the wings and legs off, section the thighs, and slice meat off of the breast. Serve with rice.

               

© 2014