Shandong roast chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole free-range chicken, about 1.6 kg
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp grated ginger, juice only (optional)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Shandong sauce

• 60 ml (¼ cup) black vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 bird’s eye chillies, thinly sliced
• 1 coriander plant, stalk and root finely chopped, leaves reserved
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Marinating time: overnight. Resting time: 15 minutes.

Instructions

1. Rub the chicken all over with the salt, inside and out.

2. Place the dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, ginger juice and sugar in a small bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar.

3. Rub all the marinade over the chicken. Refrigerate the chicken overnight, leaving it uncovered to help the skin dry out. If you don’t have time to dry the chicken overnight (or even if you do), you can help dry out the skin by blowing it with a hairdryer for about 10 minutes. Drying the skin helps create a crisp skin.

4. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

5. Place the chicken in a baking dish and brush all over with the oil.

6. Roast for 1 hour, then remove from the oven and rest for 15 minutes. If you like, you can butterfly the chicken and roast it for 40-45 minutes instead.

7. For the Shandong sauce, combine all the ingredients together in a bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add a few spoons of the rendered chicken oil from the pan.

8. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve smothered in the Shandong sauce and scattered with coriander leaves.

Note

You can also use this sauce to add flavour to store-bought rotisserie chicken.

Photography by Adam Liaw.

Watch Destination Flavour China at SBS On Demand.