For the Year of the Rabbit, Roast a Chicken with Soy and Whiskey
Are you pleasant, affectionate, gentle, artistic, sophisticated and cautious, and think you have just so much in common with Francis Ford Coppola, Jet Li and Brad Pitt that it’s uncanny?
Then, you my friend, were born under the Year of the Rabbit, as were those celebs, according to Bay Area writer Rosemary Gong’s educational “Good Luck Life, The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture” (Harper Paperbacks).
Those of us not lucky enough to be born under that fortuitious sign can still celebrate the start of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 3 in a glam way with this “Roast Chicken with Ginger and Soy-Whiskey Glaze.”
The recipe is from revered Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s “Simple to Spectacular” (Clarkson Potter).
A whole chicken is always a dramatic centerpiece, but even more so on Chinese New Year, because whole poultry is a symbol of health and unity of family.
The chicken is brined for an hour or two before cooking. A hefty 3/4 cup of chopped ginger gets stuffed into the cavity before the bird is trussed, then seared on all sides on the stovetop. Then, it’s brushed with a soy sauce-whiskey-ginger-garlic-sugar marinade before it goes into the oven, and every 10 minutes thereafter until it’s cooked through. The glaze lends the skin an inviting mahogany color.
This chicken is like a much more refined version of the soy sauce chickens you buy in Chinese delis. It’s very moist and juicy. And the flavor is more interesting and complex from the addition of the whiskey and ginger.
I served it alongside steamed white rice, baby bok choy, and wedges of kabocha squash that I had brushed with the same glaze, then roasted.
It makes for a most auspicious — and delectable — beginning to the Lunar New Year.
Roast Chicken with Ginger and Soy-Whiskey Glaze
(Serves 4)
1/2 cup kosher salt (or 1/4 cup regular salt), plus more to taste
1 1/4 cups sugar
One 3-pound chicken
1 cup roughly chopped ginger (don’t bother to peel)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rye, Scotch, or other whiskey
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/4 cup peanut or neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
Combine the 1/2 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar in a large container with 4 cups cold water and stir to dissolve. Add chicken and soak for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature (if weather is hot, refrigerate), turning chicken in the brine, halfway through the time.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drain chicken and pat dry. Stuff about 3/4 cup of ginger into the chicken’s cavity, season the bird with salt and pepper, and truss it. Combine remaining ginger with soy sauce, whiskey, the remaining 1 cup sugar, and the garlic in a saucepan and bring to a boil; simmer while you brown the chicken, then strain.
Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan and turn heat to medium-high. When oil is hot, brown the chicken on both sides, coloring one leg and half the breast at a time; move chicken occasionally to prevent sticking, and regulate heat so skin browns but does not burn — it will take about 5 minutes per side. Put chicken on its back, baste it with soy mixture and put pan in the oven.
Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with soy glaze, until bird is dark brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into its thigh reads 155 degrees. Remove bird from oven, let rest for a couple of minutes, and carve; serve with pan juices.
Adapted from “Simple to Spectacular” by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
More Lunar New Year Eats: My Dad’s Foil-Wrapped Chicken
More: Two Recipes for Chinese Almond Cookies
More: Char Siu Baos
More: The Magic of Chinese Steamed Buns Made From Pillsbury Biscuit Dough
More: My Mom’s One and Only Tomato Beef Chow Mein
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Thursday, 27. January 2011 5:46
A wonderful flavor combo! That chicken looks very appetiting.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thursday, 27. January 2011 7:35
Sounds good! I like the sound of the glaze – whiskey/scotch and soy sounds like a great flavor combination.
Thursday, 27. January 2011 7:50
OMG that glaze sounds amazing! And I laughed at the opening paragraph because I honestly had no idea where you were going at first with it!
Thursday, 27. January 2011 9:22
Wow, the chicken sounds spectacular with whiskey soy glaze!
Thursday, 27. January 2011 10:20
That is a superb recipe to ring in the year of the bunny.
Thursday, 27. January 2011 11:38
I don’t eat chicken but this is beautiful and the flavorings are unique and fantastic! Thanks for rounding up the other CNY treats too.
Thursday, 27. January 2011 13:47
On the Year of the Rooster do we roast a rabbit, then?
And what do we do on the Year of the Rat?
Never mind, I don’t want to know.
Thursday, 27. January 2011 13:57
Soy and whiskey? I’m in!
Thursday, 27. January 2011 13:57
Moe: I think for the Year of the Rat, we should celebrate with a bubbling cauldron of cheese fondue! LOL
Thursday, 27. January 2011 18:13
I don’t have a bottle of whiskey, I think I might need to go buy one!
Thursday, 27. January 2011 23:13
No carrots for the rabbit? LOL
Love the addition of whiskey in that roast chicken.
Friday, 28. January 2011 2:20
Definitely an auspiciuos roast chicken! Soy and whiskey sound like a winning combo
Friday, 28. January 2011 4:43
My, oh my, is that a perfectly roasted chicken! The glaze sounds like a fantastic combo of flavors!
Friday, 28. January 2011 10:05
I am pleasant, affectionate, gentle, artistic, sophisticated and cautious, but I was born in the year of the tiger! What’s up with that?? However, I will be stalking this recipe soon, with that delectable sounding soy whiskey glaze.
Friday, 28. January 2011 11:49
There must be something in the air, because I made a chicken using this exact same glaze last weekend (and using that exact same Jean-Georges recipe as a base, IIRC)
Such a nice change from the usual plain roast chicken… plus the glaze and the brine really do make the chicken that much more flavourful and moist. I think I’ll use the Chinese New Year as an excuse make this recipe again.
Saturday, 29. January 2011 13:02
Oh My!!! My mouth is watering! I need to try this roasted chicken recipe ASAP! Thanks for sharing!
Saturday, 29. January 2011 14:42
Love the color of the glazed, roasted bird. And, the glaze on the squash sounds delicious too. (I’m attempting homemade hot and sour soup for the first time this weekend in celebration of CNY.)
Thursday, 3. February 2011 16:48
This looks amazing!!! Definitely going to try.
Sunday, 6. February 2011 17:10
Looks stunning and I love the sound of a whiskey soy combo