Chinese roast chicken recipe. Flavorful, juicy, and absolutely mouthwatering, and it’s quick and easy to make for the entire family!
The holidays season might be over but for those celebrating Lunar New Year, the festive season has just begun.
The year of Dragon falls on January 23, 2012 and marks the celebration of Lunar New Year.
Walk down the aisles of Asian grocery stores, especially Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese here in the United States, you’ll see lots of Lunar New Year goodies out on display.
This year, I’m going to share a series of delicious Chinese New Year recipes so you’ll be able to prepare a full course Chinese menu with my recipes!
Chicken is a must-eat during Chinese New Year.
Whole chicken is especially auspicious and it’s prepared for prayers to the ancestors in traditional Chinese homes.
While regular boiled or steamed chicken is a common dish to serve, I’m partial to roast chicken, especially Cantonese BBQ style.
My roast chicken is the kind you would get at Chinatown.
There are certain techniques and secret ingredients involved to get to the desired taste and texture.
I marinated the chicken overnight, and then air dry it for a few hours before roasting.
I also created a special concoction for the skin to ensure crispiness.
The best part of the roast chicken is the juice seeping out during the roasting process; drizzle the juice on steamed rice while you sink your teeth into the moist and tender pieces of chicken.
This Chinese-style roast chicken is simply delicious and imparts the signature “烧腊” (Cantonese BBQ) aroma and flavors.
You definitely have to check out my secret Chinese roast chicken recipe.
Lunar New Year celebration lasts for 15 days, so below are more chicken recipes to whet your appetite.
Also, don’t forget that I have 80+ Chinese recipes in my cookbook “Easy Chinese Recipes.” Pick up a copy today and celebrate Dragon year with scrumptious and authentic Chinese food.
You can also refer to this Chinese recipes index on Rasa Malaysia.
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| Soy Sauce Chicken | Sichuan Roasted Chicken |
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| Steamed Chicken in Lotus Leaf | Drunken Chicken |
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Chinese-style Roast Chicken Recipe
Chinese roast chicken recipe. Flavorful, juicy, and absolutely mouthwatering, and it's quick and easy to make for the entire family!
Ingredients
- 1 chicken, about 2 1/2 - 3 lbs
- 4 garlic, lightly pounded
- 1- inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
Marinade:
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese rose wine (or Shaoxing wine)
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 dashes white pepper
Skin Coating:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
-
Clean the chicken with water and pat dry inside and out. Truss the chicken. (I did only the legs part and not whole body.)
-
Mix the Marinade ingredients well in a small bowl and rub it generously on the skin of the chicken and also the cavity. Insert the garlic and ginger inside the cavity and then transfer it into a Ziploc bag. Pour the remaining Marinade into the bag and marinate the chicken overnight. You can turn the plastic bag to make sure that the chicken is evenly marinated.
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Take the chicken out of the plastic bag, discard the garlic and ginger in the cavity. Air dry the chicken for about 30 minutes at room temperature or until the skin surface is no longer wet. You can turn on a fan. Mix the Skin Coating ingredients well in a small bowl. Set aside.
-
Heat up the oven to 400 Degrees F. Place the chicken in a roasting pan (at the lower rack) and roast for about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the other side of the chicken and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven after 1 hour and brush the entire chicken with the Skin Coating mixture. Continue to roast the chicken for about 10 minutes on each side, or until both sides of the chicken become a golden-hued brown. Remove from the oven, let cool, chop up and serve immediately. Save the juice from the chicken and serve with steamed rice.
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Julie
I love Chinese/Cantonese roast chicken, much better than the regular roast chicken for sure! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Happy new year!!!
Jennifer Ly
I love your recipes! You should think about making videos also!
Rasa Malaysia
I hope so but I am a one-man show, no one to take the video for me when I cook. Not to mention I have a baby boy who loves to hang out in the kitchen when I cook. It’s hard enough to cook and shoot. ;)
judyC
you r NoT a ‘man!’
anne
Love, love, love your website! For this chicken, does it really roast for 45 minutes at 400 degrees? It seems like it would burn. Another question is when it is airing dry, does it just sit on the counter for 3 hours or does it air dry in the fridge? Thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
Sit on the counter. Yes, it was baked for that long, but I did flip the chicken over. You can check at 30 minutes interval and adjust the time yourself.
Anucia
Mine did burn. Thankfully I noticed it at about 25 mins. Otherwise it was fabulous
Rasa Malaysia
Cover with aluminum foil before roasting.
Matthew Bullock
When you say “Save the juice from the chicken and serve with steamed rice” Do you mean mix the juice in with the rice?
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Matthew, we Asians like to add the “juice” or sauce to go with steamed rice, so it means that the juice can be added to your rice if you like.
Matthew Bullock
Hi, Thanks for the reply. Yes, my wife is Thai and they have a dish called ‘khao man gai’ where they actually use the chicken juice and fat to cook the rice instead of plain water. It’s very nice and this recipe reminded me of that. Thanks
chriselia
Hi matthew, I think you should try Hainanese chicken rice which is really similar with Khao man gai
[email protected]
Lovely! My parents always have chicken for New Years, it’s such a Chinese tradition to have chicken hehe
I’m giving this recipe to my boyfriend and gonna ask him to try lol :) Happy New Year!
Living in La La Land via Facebook
That looks so good Rasa Malaysia;p
Renee Zimmers via Facebook
yum……
Robert D. Watson via Facebook
Sounds really good.. time to go shopping!
Dana Graziano Stradley via Facebook
Always looking for new ways to cook chicken…yummy!
@Kokken via Facebook
Happy New Year to you, Bee! Looking forward to your CNY spread!
Hyosun Ro
That is one perfectly roasted chicken! I am sure it’s delicious too. Happy New Year to you and your family!
Philippe Hubert via Facebook
bonne annee rasa et continue de nous preparé de bonne recette pour 2012
HL Tay via Facebook
Good tip abt scalding the chicken with hot boiling water to remove the marinade on the chicken skin :) CNY is less than a mth away. R u traveling soon?
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, counting down to my trip back home. :) Can’t wait.
Love & other Spices via Facebook
Happy new year to you,Bee !
Love & other Spices via Facebook
Happy new year to you,Bee !
cherie
Ooooh – excited to try this one in the new year – as I always love your recipes! I bought two of your books as Christmas gifts for food loving friends – I can’t tell enough people how very pleased I am with your work!
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks so much for your support Cherie! Happy New Year.
Melanie
I lover your blog. Best wishes for the New Year to you and yours. I also love salt baked chicken. I have no recipe, I have only eaten it at a Chinese restaurant and this dish rocks too!!
Bee Ho
Thank you for the recipe, will try this recipe in the coming week and Happy New Year to you.
Jon Forti
Happy new year Bee! May 2012 bring you good health,happiness, delicious foods to enjoy & much success !!!!!
Debbie
Air dry for 3 hours? In the fridge or at room temperature?
AJ
I wondered about that too. Won’t the chicken spoil if it’s left out for 3 hours to air-dry? :)
Rasa Malaysia
Chicken doesn’t go back leaving at room temperature for only 3 hours. Chefs air dry for even longer!
Janet Seow
Wouldn’t it get attracted to bacteria in hot and humid weather of Malaysia?
joey
This looks delicious! We just had something this for new years day lunch at a really nice Chinese restaurant here…LOVE! All the best for 2012 to you Bee!
Peter Pantry Raider
You got two Sichuan Roasted Chicken captions for the photos and the bottom picture is most probably boiled or steamed chicken judging by the looks of the skin.
Have a very HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR back home in Penang with your family.
Jacca
Happy New Year!!! I was wondering if you know of any online chinese stores that sells Bamboo in chilli oil? The one in a jar.
Rasa Malaysia
No.
Claudia
How long in the boiling water?
Rasa Malaysia
You don’t boil it but pour the hot water all over the chicken.
Jeanie Man Ching-Kwan Stone via Facebook
Thanks for starting the count down. It gives me sometime to practice and prepare.
feiwan
Hi Bee,
I made this today and the chicken is very delicious. But unfortunately, the skin came off and didnt look as crispy as yours. I roasted the chicken in a tray and when I turned it over, the skin got stuck on the tray. Also as the juices and rendered fat came out as the roasting continued, the underside of the chicken was sort of ‘soaked’ in the juices. I air dried the chicken for four hours
Rasa Malaysia
Did you use a roasting tray with rack at the bottom? That way the juice will not soak the chicken but in the tray. Sorry that the chicken got stuck, next time you can grease your tray.
wfeiwan
now i know where went wrong, i didn’t use the rack! thanks much, i’m sure my second attempt will be better! happy chinese new year! xie xie
Lynn C.
I just made tonight and it is tasty! only suggestion though; I had it uncovered for the first 20 minutes or so of roasting and it seem to brown too fast so I covered it lightly with aluminum for the rest of the time and uncovered it for the last 15 minutes or so. It was delicious! do you normally keep it uncovered the entire time and it doesn’t burn? I had it on the lowest rack too.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Lynn, thanks for your comment and great suggestion. I used one of those oven that is made specially for roasting chicken (rotating thingy inside). I will put in a note in my recipe to cover the chicken. It’s a great idea.
Gem
This is a great recipe for roast chicken lovers! I would definitely try it sometime. Here’s a recipe for chicken barbeque recipe too for barbeque lovers:
http://www.gourmetrecipe.com/recipes/bbq-chicken
It’s time for chicken craze! ^_^
dvagfuzzy
OMG! The chicken was very moist and delicious. The family was impressed on my first attempt to make a Chinese style roast chicken. My only problem was that the skin was blotchy black. It didn’t look as nice as your picture or what you would get at a BBQ store. What did I do wrong? Happy Chinese New Year.
Rasa Malaysia
Cover the chicken with foil for an even roast.
amzi
hey bee, u no how we cld use shaoxing wine instead of rose wine…is that allowed for the skin coating?
Jadeco
Hi, everytime i roast the chicken in one of the oven that the chicken rice shop used, the round thing like a beer can shape oven, my chicken always end up with botch of black. Is it because that my chicken is not air-dry enough? And also, when u used the hot boiling water to drain away the skin, then the marinade will also be drain right after you have marinated the whole night? And also, do you marinade behind the breast skin into the meat?
Jadeco
And by the way, i couldnt cover my chicken with the aluminium foil coz it is hanging with the s-shape in one of the beer-can oven, so any advice i can make my chicken look evenly roast on the skin?
didie
Hi, can i know where to buy the chinese five spice powder and rice vinegar? TQ
Rasa Malaysia
asiansupermarket365.com
Robin
Rasa is this a lot like Piking Duck I found a recipe on line and it sounds like the same things to do?
Andy
Please can you explain this process what effect does it have when hot scolding water is poured on to the chicken?
Also does seasoning not get washed off?
Andy
what happens when hot water is poured on the chicken?
Rasa Malaysia
You just scald the surface.
Lee
Hi, can I use the Shaoxing wine for the ‘skin coating’ too? It will save me a trip to the store. Thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, you can.
Lee
I made this chicken tonight, it turned out very moist and delicious. Thanks for the recipe. I will probably cut down on the amount of honey for the skin the next time round. The skin was turning dark much faster than it could turn crispy although I only removed the foil for the last 15 mins. This if of course no fault of the recipe, just the difference in the grilling methods, i am using a normal oven. :-)
Joanna
Hey!
I’m about to use this recipe again and I notice that the part about scalding the chicken with boiling water is no longer there. Is that intentional? Thanks!
Rasa Malaysia
Yes intentional. No need to do that. :)
Joanna
Great, thanks. Love your website btw! Helps with my Malaysian cravings!
chris
Hello Rasa,
When you say turn the chicken to the other side do you mean turn the chicken onto its breast for only 15 minutes and then turn back and continue to cook for 1 hou?
Rasa Malaysia
Flip the chicken over.
Catherine
Hi Bee,
Thanks for your recipe. Did I my first attempt today and everyone loved. My hubby was so happy with it and said tasted authentic :)
Rasa Malaysia
That’s great, thank you!
Tara
This was absolutely delicious! The skin was perfect.
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks Tara. Did you try my Chinese roast chicken recipe?
Ying
Hi guys i tried this recipe and it was amazing. just wondering where can wr buy a roast tray + roast rack?
mike
Hi i would like to ask how much cost of whole chinese roasted chicken. thank you
Amanda
Can this be made in the slow cooker or do you thin it will not have the same texture?
Mj Bie
Can i use this recipe for duck too?
Rasa Malaysia
I guess you can but I haven’t tried myself so I am not sure of the results.
Alexis W
This is my favorite go to recipe for Chinese Roast Chicken of all time. It reminds me of the roast chicken rice eaten at Ipoh Hawker stalls while growing up in Malaysia! Thank you Bee for this wonderful and authentic recipe!
Chloe
The first time I made this was perfect – and I’m always messing up roast chicken! Tastes just like home – thank you!!
Rasa Malaysia
Great that you had success with my Chinese Roast Chicken.
Sue
Air dry 30 min as per your recipe or 3 hours as per the comments ?
Teo ai li
Hi! Can I roast the chicken in the oven on a turnspit? So is it still at 200C? Thanks
Rasa Malaysia
I think so. Let me know how it goes.
Teo Ai Li
Hi! Is it top and bottom heating or is it just top cooking? Thanks!
Rasa Malaysia
All around heating.
Julie
This seems reminiscent of the BBQ ducks and chickens hanging in shops in NYC Chinatown. I haven’t been home for years so I am anxious to try this recipe. I see people here have mentioned scalding the skin and you have responded but I don’t see this step in the recipe. Am I missing something? And, why would we scald after marinating…is it to rinse skin for uniform coloring while roasting? I once made a roast pork when I was a 12 and I hung it from string in my regular oven to roast. Could I do that with this recipe?
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Julie, please follow the recipe as is and don’t try to do something different. I can’t guarantee the same results if it’s not the way my recipe is. I think you can hang it in your oven if you can manage to hold the whole chicken in the oven.