Chinese Salt Baked Chicken (秘制鹽焗雞)

My dad makes this superb Chinese Salt Baked Chicken once a month for our Sunday Family Dinner as it is my mom's favourite chicken dish. Since he is the prof. Michelin star chef, he would always marinate it over night with his specific mixture then wrap the whole chicken with parchment paper, bury it in a clay pot of coarse dead sea salt and bake it under slow fire for several hours. These days you will hardly find a chef, who does it the traditional way including me. I just don't have the patience to do so, and frankly speaking, I don't have the right oven and tools too.

Instead, I would use a store bought spice mixture BUT that is not just it ..... and since I have little kids, I would often use chicken wings instead of a whole organic free-range chicken as well. The recipe is so easy but yet so good ... nothing wrong with cheating a little bit with store bought spices. This recipe is written for a whole chicken, but if you use chicken wings, simply use my spice mixtures to marinate 3 lbs of chicken wings overnight, then bake it for 35-45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Chinese Salt Baked Chicken (秘制鹽焗雞)

Marinate:
1 1/2 packages Riversides' spice bake mix
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons 5 spice powder
2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
5 - 6 star anises, finely crushed
2 tablespoon cilantro, green onion mixture
1 3-4 lbs organic, free-ranged chicken, rinsed and dried
2 - 3 bundles of green onions
10 - 12 thick slices peeled ginger

Condiment:
5 - 6 stalks green onions, finely chopped
1 large piece of fresh ginger, grated
1/2 package Riversides' spice bake mix
2 - 3 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons oil

Step 1:
Take 2 small bowls. Use 1 1/2 packs of "Spicy Bake Mix" and divide them into 2 equal halves. (Taste the "Spicy Bake Mix" and see if it is pre-mixed with salt. Some manufacturers do pre-mix it with salt. Some don't. If it is not pre-mixed with salt, add 2 tsp of salt in each bowl.)

Step 2:
In one of the bowl, add 2 tsp of five spice powder, 1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine and crushed star anises. Rub the mixture with five spice and star anise in the cavity of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with your bundles of green onions and thick slices of ginger.

Step 3:
Add to your other bowl of spice bake mixture the cilantro/green onion mixture and 1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine. Combine well, then rub the outside of the chicken with it evenly. Marinate it overnight.

Step 4:
Preheat oven at 325. Place the chicken on a rack, then in the oven with a pan of water underneath to keep the chicken moist.

Step 5:
Cover your chicken with a sheet of aluminum foil to keep it moist.

Step 6:
Set the oven to bake at 325F for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Step 7:
Meanwhile, make the condiment. Combine the green onion mixture with the grated ginger in small bowl.

Step 8:
Use a small pot/pan and heat up a generous 4 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil starts to fume/smoke. Quickly pour the fuming oil onto the bowl of green onions and ginger.

Step 9:
Add the 1/2 pack of "Spicy Bake Mix". (If the "Spicy Bake Mix" is not pre-mixed with salt, add 1 tsp of salt.) Add 2 - 3 tsp of sugar. Mix well.

Step 10:
After 1 hour 30 minutes of baking at 325F, remove the aluminum foil. Turn up the oven to 400F. Continue to bake for another 30 minutes. This will dry up and brown the outer skin of the chicken a bit.

Step 11:
Carve the chicken at dinner table, or chop it up with a cleaver.

Dip your chicken pieces into the condiment and enjoy !!!