13 June 2009
Recipe for Chinese Salt Buried Chicken
Here is another salty recipe. It's a traditional way of cooking in China and strangely is really delicious, even though it sounds far to salty. While it seems a waste of salt, you can re-use the salt for similar meals - perhaps cook this first then the salt buried red snapper later.
1.5kg Whole chicken
1½tbsp Fruit-flavoured brandy
1½tbsp Soy sauce
4 slices Fresh ginger
1 Large onion, finely sliced
1tbsp Steenbergs China 5 spice powder
2.75kg Coarse sea salt
Preheat the oven to 180oC.
Mix together the brandy and soy sauce and use this to rub the chicken inside and outside. Mix together the ginger, onion and China 5 spice and place this inside the chicken. Leave to stand in a cool, well ventilated place for 2 hours to dry out.
Place the salt in a deep casserole dish and warm it through in the oven, stirring it once or twice to ensure that it is evenly heated through. Make a well in the salt and bury the chicken, covering it completely. Cover the casserole and warm it over a low heat for 10 minutes to warm through. Transfer it into the preheated oven and cook for 1½ hours.
To serve, lift the chicken out of the casserole and brush it free of salt. Chop it through the bone into 20 pieces and arrange on a double platter. Serve hot, with rice or noodles, together with stir-fried vegetables.
