Shandong Roast Chicken 🇨🇳

This is an easy and delicious way to cook a whole chicken, and a crowd pleaser.  Shandong is an eastern province in China.  The chicken is traditionally boiled and then deep-fried so the skin is nice and crispy.  This recipe, sourced from Australian celebrity chef Adam Liaw, requires much less work - just a little preparation before the chicken is roasted in the oven.  Don't be intimidated by step 2 and 3 as they are optional.  The salt rub and hot water treatment helps to colour and crisp up the skin nicely if you take the trouble.  Alternatively, a roasted chicken from the supermarket works just as well.  The hero is the sauce. 

Serves 4-6

                                

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole chicken, about 1.6kg / 3lb 8oz
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

    Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Chinese Shaoxin wine
• 2 teaspoons ginger juice* 
• 1 teaspoon sugar

*Ginger juice can be obtained by grading a knob of peeled ginger, then pressing the grated ginger with a spoon.

    

    Shandong sauce:

• ¼ cup Chinese black vinegar
• 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 small red chilli, thinly sliced
• 1 coriander plant, stalk and root finely chopped, leaves reserved
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

METHOD

1. Place the chicken on a large platter.  Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
2. (Optional) Rub the chicken all over with the salt.  Use gloves.  This exfoliates the skin which helps the chicken colour nicely when cooked.
3. (Optional) Put the kettle on.  Suspend the chicken over the sink using poultry hooks or a piece of cooking twine long enough to go under the two wings and then over the top of the chicken with a double knot where you can hold onto with one hand.  With your other hand, carefully pour a cup of boiling water from the kettle over the chicken to tighten up the skin.  
4. Place the chicken back onto the platter.  Brush the chicken all over with the marinade.  Leave it uncovered on the platter, breast side up, in the refrigerator for a few hours to let the skin dry out.    
5. Take the chicken out from the refrigerator to bring it back to room temperature about 15 minutes prior to cooking.  Place the chicken into a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush over with the oil.
6. Roast for about an hour in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven.  Alternatively, you can spatchcock the chicken and it would take less time (about 45 minutes) to roast.  Insert a skewer into the thickest part of a thigh or breast.  It is cooked if the juice runs out clear.
7. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes.  
8. Make the Shandong sauce in a bowl by firstly stirring and dissolving the sugar in the black vinegar.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Add also a few spoonfuls of the juice from the baking tray to the sauce.
9. Joint the chicken.  Remove the bones from the breasts, thighs and legs before slicing them into bitesize pieces.  Arrange on a serving plate.  (If you are handy with the cleaver, you can chop the chicken up and serve the pieces with bones in, which is the Chinese way.) Drizzle over the sauce.  Garnish with coriander leaves.

Source (with adaptations): Adam Liaw