Dongjiang Salt-Baked Chicken

Name: Dongjiang Salt-Baked Chicken
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 (about 1500 g) Fat young hen (yellow feathers, yellow beak, yellow feet, laying hen; after slaughter, pluck, remove entrails, wash, hang to dry, and remove claw tips and the hard shell on the beak); 10 g Ginger slices; 10 g Scallion strips; 25 g Cilantro; 2500 g Coarse salt (for baking the chicken); 13 g Fine salt (part for seasoning, part for rubbing inside the cavity); 7 g MSG (original text reads 'MSG 7 shi', likely a typo); 2.5 g Star anise powder; 2.5 g Sand ginger powder; 1 g Sesame oil; 120 g Rendered pork fat (part for sauce, part for dipping); 15 g Peanut oil (for brushing on the gauze paper); 2 Gauze paper (for wrapping the chicken)

A classic Cantonese specialty featuring a plump pullet baked in coarse salt, yielding crisp skin, tender juicy meat, and a rich, fragrant flavor.

55 min

Easy

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Ingredients

Fat young hen (yellow feathers, yellow beak, yellow feet, laying hen; after slaughter, pluck, remove entrails, wash, hang to dry, and remove claw tips and the hard shell on the beak) 1 (about 1500 g)

Ginger slices 10 g

Scallion strips 10 g

Cilantro 25 g

Coarse salt (for baking the chicken) 2500 g

Fine salt (part for seasoning, part for rubbing inside the cavity) 13 g

MSG (original text reads 'MSG 7 shi', likely a typo) 7 g

Star anise powder 2.5 g

Sand ginger powder 2.5 g

Sesame oil 1 g

Rendered pork fat (part for sauce, part for dipping) 120 g

Peanut oil (for brushing on the gauze paper) 15 g

Gauze paper (for wrapping the chicken) 2

Instructions

Preparing the condiments

Place a wok over low heat, add 4 g fine salt and heat until hot, then add the sand ginger powder, stir well, and remove. Divide into 3 small dishes, adding 15 g pork fat to each for dipping. Combine 75 g pork fat, 5 g fine salt, the sesame oil, and the MSG to make a seasoning sauce. Brush one sheet of gauze paper with peanut oil and set aside.

Preparing the chicken

Slaughter the live chicken, pluck the feathers, remove the entrails, wash, and hang to dry. Cut off the claw tips and the hard shell on the beak. Make a slit on each side of the wing joint and one cut on the neck bone. Rub 3.5 g of fine salt evenly inside the cavity, then stuff with the ginger, scallions, and star anise powder. First wrap the chicken in the un-oiled gauze paper, then wrap it in the oil-brushed gauze paper.

Salt-baking

Heat a wok over high heat, add the coarse salt, and stir-fry until very hot. Scoop out 1/4 of the salt and place it in a clay pot. Set the chicken inside the clay pot, then pour the remaining salt over the chicken to cover it completely. Cover the pot tightly and bake over low heat for about 20 minutes until cooked through.

Disassembling and plating

Remove the chicken, peel off the gauze paper, and lift off the skin (set aside). Shred the meat into pieces and separate the bones. Add the seasoning sauce and mix well. Arrange on a platter with the bones at the bottom, the meat in the middle, and the skin on top, shaping it back into the form of a chicken. Place cilantro on both sides of the chicken. Serve with the sand ginger oil-salt dipping sauce.