The rainy season we're currently enjoying here in Singapore is not exactly perfect for roast chicken. But roast chicken is perfect for any occasion in my opinion. The other day I tried a Chinese style roast chicken recipe. Reading the ingredients, I was sure this is the taste of the roast chicken of my childhood.
When I was young, my dad used to buy roast chicken quite often at this small shop near our house in Jakarta. The taste was incredible. I could finish 1 whole chicken by myself any day. I was a peckish child, developing the gusto to eat into adulthood. Unfortunately, it seems out of everyone who lived there, I was the only fan of that roast chicken. As such, the shop finally closed and I have since been missing that taste.
When I chanced upon this recipe, I thought this was it, the recipe to make what I can safely call the greatest roast chicken I ever had. So I went ahead and tried it with anticipation. The original recipe actually is not halal, so I had to make some adjustments. This was how I made it:
1 whole chicken weighing 1 kg
1 onion, quartered
5 cloves garlic
3 stalks green onion
3 slices of ginger (2 sm)
5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
oil to brown the chicken
1. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes before using.
2. Apply salt and pepper to the entire chicken including the cavity.
3. Place the onion, garlic, ginger and vinegar into the chicken cavity.
4. Place any remaining/leftover ingredients, which cannot be fit into the chicken, into the roasting tin.
5. Apply soy sauce and oil on the entire chicken. Perhaps basting the chicken every now and then would be a good idea to make sure the skin is crispy. But I did not do that, the skin was not as crispy but it was okay.
6. Roast in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 hour until the skin is just right.
The result looked fantastic! But the taste was definitely missing that Chinese herbs kick. Why..??!! Because there wasn't any included in this recipe lol. Duuhhh....I should have thought of that, but in my haste, I overlooked it. I should not have been surprised, but I did. So, though I was not completely disappointed with the taste, I was let down by the fact that it is not the taste I was expecting.
Once upon a time, when I was pursuing my degree in the US, a friend of mine from China made me this chicken soup, seasoning of which is really similar to the herbs and spices of that beloved roast chicken I had when I was young. We did discuss about it and she told me what the spices were. This was aeons ago. But now after I moved to Singapore, I don't remember what the spices were anymore. Though I could have sworn I chanced upon a spice package sold in Shengsiong with the exact same fragrance, but at this point, this is all still a mystery. Of course, this means I would have to investigate further and hunt down the spice package in question so I can confirm whether those were the spices I'm looking for. If so, then I will be updating this roast chicken recipe soon enough. Sooo excited!!!
In the meantime tho, this recipe is still good on it's own. If there happens to be leftovers, we can stir fry it again with Indonesian kecap manis. Heaven!
When I was young, my dad used to buy roast chicken quite often at this small shop near our house in Jakarta. The taste was incredible. I could finish 1 whole chicken by myself any day. I was a peckish child, developing the gusto to eat into adulthood. Unfortunately, it seems out of everyone who lived there, I was the only fan of that roast chicken. As such, the shop finally closed and I have since been missing that taste.
When I chanced upon this recipe, I thought this was it, the recipe to make what I can safely call the greatest roast chicken I ever had. So I went ahead and tried it with anticipation. The original recipe actually is not halal, so I had to make some adjustments. This was how I made it:
1 whole chicken weighing 1 kg
1 onion, quartered
5 cloves garlic
3 stalks green onion
3 slices of ginger (2 sm)
5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
oil to brown the chicken
1. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes before using.
2. Apply salt and pepper to the entire chicken including the cavity.
3. Place the onion, garlic, ginger and vinegar into the chicken cavity.
4. Place any remaining/leftover ingredients, which cannot be fit into the chicken, into the roasting tin.
5. Apply soy sauce and oil on the entire chicken. Perhaps basting the chicken every now and then would be a good idea to make sure the skin is crispy. But I did not do that, the skin was not as crispy but it was okay.
6. Roast in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 hour until the skin is just right.
The result looked fantastic! But the taste was definitely missing that Chinese herbs kick. Why..??!! Because there wasn't any included in this recipe lol. Duuhhh....I should have thought of that, but in my haste, I overlooked it. I should not have been surprised, but I did. So, though I was not completely disappointed with the taste, I was let down by the fact that it is not the taste I was expecting.
In the meantime tho, this recipe is still good on it's own. If there happens to be leftovers, we can stir fry it again with Indonesian kecap manis. Heaven!
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