Salt and Sichuan pepper roast chicken

Reinvent the weekly roast chook with Adam Liaw’s spicy Sichuan twist. Season your butterflied chicken with a homemade spice blend, then roast over a bed of mixed vegetables, infusing the vegetables with loads of chicken-y flavour. Serve with a dash of chilli oil for extra heat.

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (around 1.6kg)
• 1 fennel bulb, cut into 1 cm thin slices
• 1 red capsicum, cut into 1 cm thin slices
• 2 red onion, halved, cut into 1 cm thin slices
• 2 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar (Chinese black vinegar)
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves
• Chilli oil, to serve

For the Sichuan salt

• 2 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 3 tbsp salt
• 2 tsp Korean chilli flakes
• 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Resting time: 15 minutes

Instructions

1. To make the Sichuan salt, heat the Sichuan peppercorns, fennel, cumin seeds and half the salt in a small saucepan until fragrant. Remove to a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder), then grind to a coarse powder. Stir through the remaining salt, chilli flakes, stock powder, caster sugar and sesame seeds. This will make a little more seasoning than you need.
2. Butterfly the chicken by using sharp kitchen scissors to cut out the backbone, then season the chicken very generously on all sides with the prepared Sichuan salt mixture. Reserve any leftover Sichuan salt.
3. Preheat the oven to 240˚C (220˚C fan-forced). Combine the vegetables on a large roasting tray, then place the chicken, skin-side up on top. Roast for 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and cooked through, then remove from the oven. Transfer the chicken to a large plate to rest, then toss the vegetables with the vinegar, spring onions and coriander leaves.
4. Cut the chicken into serving portions, then transfer to a large serving platter with the vegetables. Drizzle with chilli oil and serve with extra Sichuan salt on the side.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.