Chinese Roast Chicken (Best Recipe) - Rasa Malaysia (2024)

FAQs

Why do you salt chicken before roasting? ›

Salting in advance does not make meat taste too salty; it makes it tasty all the way through. Salting in advance promotes juiciness and improves texture.

Marinating not only adds flavor, but the combination of healthy fat and acid in most recipes also helps tenderize the meat. A good marinade is roughly three parts oil to one part acid, plus salt and other seasonings like spices, crushed garlic, or a little natural sugar.

Use a brine

Brining your chicken is a foolproof way to not only add flavour to your roast but also to ensure you don't overcook the meat. Essentially a mix of salt, sugar and water, we love adding herbs, garlic or whole spices such as fennel and cumin to flavour the brine.

Lemon, herbs, onions, and garlic too are all aromatics that infuse into the chicken as it cooks giving it a lovely flavor.

Add a touch of spice to your chicken breast by combining paprika, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, ginger, garlic and olive oil to create a paste. Then cover your chicken breast with the paste and pat down to secure.

Low and slow cooking methods like braising, stewing, or smoking are most effective when trying to create tender, succulent chicken.

Make a Rub

Just because the chicken is already cooked doesn't mean it can't benefit from a rub. Before reheating, make a custom blend of your favorite spices like paprika, cayenne, onion or garlic powder. Mix in dried herbs or a bit of sugar for beautiful caramelization, then sprinkle it evenly over the skin.

Should I cover a chicken when roasting? ›

Weigh your chicken and calculate the cooking time according to the guide below. Sit the bird in a roasting tin slightly larger than the chicken, and don't cover it with foil or you won't achieve a crisp skin. Basting your chicken during cooking will help keep the meat moist.

You have two options for roasting your chicken: low and slow or hot and fast. To make the right decision, you first have to decide what type of chicken you're craving. For sticky, rotisserie-style skin with fall-apart meat, cook it at a low temperature for hours.

At least 1 hour and up to 24 hours ahead, sprinkle each chicken breast with ¾ teaspoon salt. Chill, uncovered, until ready to cook. In a small saucepan just big enough to hold the chicken with an inch of space at the top, combine chicken stock, coconut milk, lime juice, ginger and shallots.

Brining keeps chicken incredibly moist while adding an excellent flavour. It's a bit more labour intensive than a simple spice rub, but it's worth the effort for that extra special chicken dinner. Brining is basically soaking meat in a salt water solution, but the flavour doesn't stop at just salt.

At first, the salt draws moisture out of the cells, but a few hours later, the cells reabsorb the salty water in a kind of reverse osmosis, drawing back both moisture and flavor.

Many people think due to osmosis that salt will draw water out of any ingredient, resulting in dry and toughened meat. However, with time salt will dissolve protein strands allowing the meat retain water as they cook – this is what makes meat tender and juicy!