Dongjiang Salt-Baked Chicken
A traditional Dongjiang (Guangdong) dish, prepared by wrapping a young hen in paper, burying it in heated coarse salt, and baking until fully cooked.
Ingredients
tender young hen (about 1.4 kg, cleaned and gutted, hung to dry, remove claws and the hard shell from the beak, cut a slit at the breast, chop once at the neck bone)
1
ginger slices
10 g
scallion segments
10 g
sanitized cilantro
25 g
coarse salt (preheated)
2.5 kg
fine salt (used in stages)
12.5 g
monosodium glutamate
8 g
ground star anise
2.5 g
sesame oil
2.5 g
ground sand ginger (galangal)
2.5 g
lard
120 g
peanut oil (for brushing the gauze paper)
15 g
gauze paper
2
Instructions
1
Step 1
Heat a wok over low heat, add the fine salt (4 g) and warm it through, stir in the ground sand ginger until well mixed, then remove—this is the sand ginger salt. Divide the sand ginger salt into three small dishes and add 15 g of lard to each as an accompanying condiment. In a separate bowl, combine 75 g of lard with 5 g of fine salt, the sesame oil, and the monosodium glutamate to make a flavoring sauce. Brush one sheet of gauze paper with the peanut oil and set aside.
2
Step 2
Clean the hen, removing the innards, and hang it up to dry. Cut off the claws and the hard shell on the beak, make a slit at the breast, and chop once at the neck bone (do not chop all the way through). Rub 3.5 g of fine salt evenly inside the cavity, then add the scallion segments, ginger slices, and ground star anise. First wrap the hen in the un-oiled sheet of gauze paper, then wrap it again in the oiled sheet.
3
Step 3
Heat a wok over high heat, add the coarse salt, and stir-fry until it turns slightly reddish. Transfer about one-quarter of the hot salt into a clay pot, place the wrapped chicken on top of the salt bed, then pour the remaining three-quarters of the salt over the chicken to cover it completely. Cover the pot and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken, unwrap the gauze paper, peel off the skin, tear the meat into pieces, and separate the bones. Toss the meat with the flavoring sauce and arrange on a serving plate (bones on the bottom, meat in the middle, skin on top) so it resembles the shape of a whole chicken. Place the cilantro on both sides of the chicken. Serve accompanied by the sand ginger salt.
