I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 638 - 297: Authentic Salt Baked Chicken, Not as Complicated as You Think! A Little Surprise at the Promotion Party! [Subscribe Please]

Chapter 638: Chapter 297: Authentic Salt Baked Chicken, Not as Complicated as You Think! A Little Surprise at the Promotion Party! [Subscribe Please]

In the Lingnan Region, Salt Baked Chicken is a very common dish and is not complicated to make.

A whole chicken, once purchased, is cleaned, dried, and then rubbed with Salt Baked Chicken Powder for marination. Afterward, it’s poached in braising liquid or steamed using indirect heat.

Chicken cooked by poaching is called ’water-baked,’ while chicken cooked by steaming is known as ’air-baked.’

Both methods produce delicious Salt Baked Chicken and eliminate the step and hassle of frying the salt.

However, for the most authentic and delicious results, one must follow the traditional method: hot-frying the salt and then burying the chicken in it. This is what truly defines Salt Baked Chicken.

For the people of Lingnan, sand ginger is an indispensable ingredient when eating chicken, whether it’s Plain Chicken or Salt Baked Chicken.

Sand ginger, also known as lesser galangal, is a spice and medicinal herb prized for its distinctive aroma.

When added to dishes, it not only imparts a rich fragrance but also aids digestion and relieves pain.

After being washed, the chicken is hung up to drain excess water.

During this draining time, Lin Xu began preparing the marinade for the Salt Baked Chicken using sand ginger powder.

In the traditional preparation of Salt Baked Chicken, whole pieces of sand ginger are crushed and minced, then mixed with salt and rubbed all over the chicken.

However, when minced sand ginger is applied directly to the chicken, it tends to char during the baking process. This results in the Salt Baked Chicken’s surface being covered with black specks, which detracts from its appearance.

To make the dish more visually appealing, chefs choose to dry the sand ginger and then grind it into powder for use.

This way, the chicken can absorb the sand ginger’s aroma while also preventing these charred specks from appearing.

Depending on the amount of chicken, Lin Xu added a large spoonful of sand ginger powder and another large spoonful of salt to a small basin.

Normally, adding peanut oil and mixing thoroughly would be enough to create an exceptionally delicious Salt Baked Chicken.

But today, as this was for an advancement banquet where presentation was also crucial, Lin Xu added a tiny bit of gardenia powder.

Gardenia has hardly any flavor; it’s added purely to give the chicken skin a more vibrant, yellow sheen.

The reason chicken dishes like Plain Chicken and Salt Baked Chicken in restaurants have such a vibrant yellow skin is due to the effect of gardenia.

After adding the gardenia powder, if one were to also mix in Chicken Powder (made from ground Chicken Essence) or flavor powder (made from ground Flavoring), the result would be the commercial Salt Baked Chicken Powder commonly found on the market.

He stirred these powders until evenly combined, then poured in a large spoonful of peanut oil and mixed it into a thick paste. The marinade for the Salt Baked Chicken was now officially prepared.

Among the Eight Major Cuisines of China, it’s not just Shandong cuisine chefs who favor peanut oil; Cantonese chefs are also particularly fond of this ingredient.

Regardless of the dish, whenever a fat needs to be applied to ingredients for marination, peanut oil is typically the top choice for Cantonese chefs.

Lin Xu took down the chickens that had been hung to drain, then used kitchen paper to thoroughly dry the surface and cavity of each one, removing any residual moisture.

This step is crucial for the chicken to absorb the flavors, so it must be done as thoroughly as possible and with great care.

Two types of chickens are typically used for Salt Baked Chicken: young hens and old hens.

Young hens have tender, juicy meat, while old hens offer crispy skin and chewier, more flavorful meat.

Both types have their own merits, with no definitive superiority. The choice depends on the desired texture.

Today, Lin Xu was using young hens that had been raised for a full 200 days. Their meat was firm yet succulent, making them an excellent choice for Salt Baked Chicken.

After drying the surface of a chicken, he first spooned a few small scoops of the prepared marinade paste into its cavity.

Reaching into the cavity, he repeatedly massaged and pressed—three times in total—to ensure the peanut oil-rich marinade evenly coated every nook and cranny inside.

Once the inside of the cavity was thoroughly coated, he moved on to rubbing the marinade onto the outer skin of the chicken.

While rubbing, he continued to press and massage, ensuring the marinade fully penetrated the chicken’s pores.

He set the evenly coated chicken aside to marinate and then began on the next one.

Once all the chickens were coated, he hung them by hooks inserted at the base of their wings in the ventilated room.

This step is known as ’hanging the chicken.’

Hanging allows excess moisture within the chicken to drip out. This moisture is, in fact, the source of any gamey or fishy odors in the meat.

The reason Cooking Wine or high-proof Liquor isn’t used to eliminate these odors when preparing Salt Baked Chicken is precisely because this hanging step is so effective.

If this step were skipped, one would have to diligently apply Cooking Wine.

Otherwise, the resulting Salt Baked Chicken would definitely have an undesirable odor.

Moreover, hanging the chicken before baking makes its meat drier and more intensely flavored, improving its taste.

Additionally, as the moisture seeps out, it carries away excess marinade, preventing the chicken from becoming too salty or its flavor too overpowering.

The hanging process should not be too short; it requires about two hours.

If the hanging time is too short, the moisture won’t seep out thoroughly, and the meat will lack that desired dry, aromatic quality. Conversely, if hung for too long, the chicken will lose its tenderness and fresh texture.

One hour later, Lin Xu placed a large iron wok on the stove. He then sifted the coarse sea salt that had been used before, pouring it into the wok.

Although used sea salt can be reused multiple times, it’s best to sift out any blackened bits and pieces, retaining only the large grains. This helps prevent a burnt taste during the baking process.

After adding this sifted sea salt, he then mixed in about ten new packets of sea salt.

When making Salt Baked Chicken, the more salt used, the better the resulting flavor. Since this salt can be reused, there’s no need to worry about waste.

Once the sea salt was in the wok, he began to stir-fry it.

For other salt-baked dishes, spices like Star Anise and Sichuan peppercorns can be added to the salt for flavoring.

However, these are not needed for Salt Baked Chicken. This dish aims for the pure, savory-umami flavor of sea salt. If this flavor were to be replaced by the fragrance of spices, it would be missing the point entirely.

Stir-frying the salt is both time-consuming and physically demanding.

All the moisture in the salt needs to be stir-fried out, until the coarse sea salt grains begin to pop in the wok.