SWEET AND SPICY LACQUERED ROAST CHICKEN
About the Recipe
The Fourth of July is here again and as usual I'm thinking SUMMER PICNIC. If you are of the same mind and ready to move on from hotdogs and hamburgers or don't have a grill or access to a bonfire, try making this divine Chinese-lacquered roast chicken. Sweet, spicy, succulent, and GORGEOUS, it is equally delicious warm or at room temperature and is verifiably wow-worthy. Ideal sides include Asian cole slaw and sesame noodles or Asian rice salad, but good old American stand-bys are fine too. The chicken is subtly rather than aggressively Chinese and pairs well with almost anything.
A bowl of fresh cherries and a platter of Chinese almond cookies and/or fortune cookies are a fun dessert - but of course a Forth-of-July watermelon is easy and always welcome. As are chocolate chip cookies and brownies.
FYI, this chicken is not only for picnics. I've served it many times — summer and winter — warm and for dinner. Everyone loves it anywhere, any time.
Happy Fourth!!!!
Sweet & Spicy Lacquered Roast Chicken
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons THICK soy sauce (in a jar and paste-like. Buy at Kalustyan's or order online. Do not use regular soy as it is too thin and will not stay on the chicken)
2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns, ground in a spice grinder
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons kosher salt
8 cloves of peeled garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons neutral oil
METHOD
Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, set a rack inside it and place the chicken on the rack. Stir together the honey and dark soy sauce until the honey dissolves. Using a pastry brush or your hands, coat the chicken with an even layer of the mixture. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to let the skin dry slightly, then brush again with all of the remaining mixture.
Mix the two peppers together with the salt and pat all over the chicken. Use it all. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 12 hours and up to 2 days.
Two to three hours before you plan to roast the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator. Mix the minced garlic with the oil or process them together in a food processor. Gently smear all over the chicken. Use it all.
Heat the oven to 400° F. Roast the chicken for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until the internal temperature at the thickest part of the breast and where the thigh meets the breast is 160°-165° F (If you don’t have a thermometer, roast it until the legs wiggle freely at their joints or snip the skin between the thigh and breast: If the liquid runs clear, it’s done). If during the roasting process the skin darkens too quickly, cover loosely with foil and continue roasting. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve warm or at room temperature.