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Today I bring you Five-Spice Roasted Chicken! Christmas is right around the corner, and if you still don’t know what you are going to cook for the Christmas dinner, you can totally try this amazing Five-Spice Roasted Chicken!

Five-Spice Roasted Chicken Recipe

Serve: 2 to 4 people
Prep time: 15 minutes
Rest time: 24 to 48 hours, plus 4 hours
Cook time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

1 whole small chicken, about 2 pounds
½ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
6 tablespoons  Shaoxing wine
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon five-spice powder
2 stalks scallions
5 slices smashed ginger
6 cloves smashed garlic

Instruction

When we clean our chicken, we can wash it with warm water and rub it with a bit of baking soda to remove a layer of fat on the skin.

Then we can use a paper towel to dry the chicken, remove its hair, and the layer of fat on its surface. Put the chicken in a large Ziploc bag and put aside.

To make marinade sauce, we have here ½ cup of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 6 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine, a pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of five-spice powder, 2 stalks of scallions, 5 slices of smashed ginger, 6 cloves of smashed garlic. Mix well.

Pour the sauce into the Ziploc bag. Marinate the chicken for 24 hours to 48 hours in the fridge. Flip a couple of times.

After taking out the chicken, we need to air dry it for at least 4 hours. Or we can use a hair dryer to dry it. Set the setting to “cool” air. And dry the chicken until it feels like dry leather.

Preheat the oven to 400°F/204°C.

Tie the chicken legs up with cooking twine. Brush a bit of oil a small piece of foil paper and cover the tip of the leg to prevent from burning. Do the same for chicken wings. Also, brush some oil on the baking rack to prevent the chicken from tearing off when we get it out.

Transfer the chicken to the baking rack. Roast at 400°F/204°C for 30 mins.

Then rotate the roasting pan and roast for another 20 mins.

Turn the oven to 250°F/121°C, take out the foil paper, and roast for another 20 minutes.

3 thoughts on “Five-Spice Roasted Chicken”

  1. Using baking soda to help rub off the top layer of skin (you call it “fat”) is certainly quite effective to a point. I have always run very hot water from the tap over the chicken to loosen that layer of skin, and then rub with my finger (i.e., thumb) to remove it. I still remember my grandmother briefly dipping a chicken into a pot of boiled water to do the same. The benefit of using hot water is that even the heavy skin on the ends of the chicken legs can be loosened, and then scraped off easily with your thumb nail. Try it!

    As for your recipe, it is absolutely delicious! Chicken comes out beautifully colored just like in your video, with wonderfully crisp skin; the meat sweet, fragrant, and succulent. This is the best Five-Spice Roasted Whole Chicken (五香 烤全雞) recipe I have ever tried. Thank you! I will use your recipe to cook this dish again and again.

    I wondered if you have ever considered basting the chicken near the end with a glaze of ¼ cup honey & ¼ cup white vinegar? I think this would add another layer of flavor that would combine well and be most welcome. What are your thoughts on this?

  2. Hi Qao Boi, thank you for all the tips! I’m really happy that you enjoy my recipe. It seems like you are quiet a foodie/chef yourself. Cheers to great food and awesome home cook meals! 🙂

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