Baked Chicken with Spicy Salt

Sand ginger powder, available at Asian grocers, is very different from ginger powder. You can put the star anise inside a plastic bag and pound with the back of a knife if you don’t have a mortar.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg chicken
• 1¾ tsp sea salt
• 3 star anise
• 1 tsp sand ginger powder
• 5 stalks celery
• 8 slices ginger
• ½ cup water

Method:

1. Rinse the chicken and pat dry with kitchen towel. Remove any large pieces of fat. Butterfly (also known as spatchcock) the chicken by cutting along both sides of the chicken’s backbone with a pair of kitchen shears, and flattening it out. You may make a shallow cut at the top of the chicken’s breast bone inside in order to help flatten the whole bird easily. Reserve the backbone for making stock later or bake with the chicken together to make dipping sauce.
2. Pound the sea salt and star anise together. Evenly rub onto both sides of the chicken. Set aside for about 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 170C / 320F.
4. Prepare a baking tray, lined with celery and ginger slices. Put in the backbone if desired. Sprinkle and rub the sand ginger powder on both sides of the chicken. Carefully place it on top of the celery and ginger. Pour in the water into the tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until juice runs out clear with an inserted needle into the thickest part. Let the chicken rest on a plate for 10 minutes.
5. Don’t discard the liquid in the baking tray. It’s the most delicious juice from the chicken. Heat the whole tray on stove over medium heat. Reduce the juice by one-third. Discard the solids and spoon out the oil on the surface. Serve at the side of the roast chicken for dressing. It’s wonderfully tasty.

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