I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 639 - 297: Authentic Salt Baked Chicken, Not as Complicated as You Think! A Little Surprise at the Promotion Party! [Subscribe Please]_2

Chapter 639: Chapter 297: Authentic Salt Baked Chicken, Not as Complicated as You Think! A Little Surprise at the Promotion Party! [Subscribe Please]_2

At this point, the sea salt’s temperature had already exceeded two hundred degrees Celsius. The chicken was also almost done hanging, but it couldn’t be taken down yet because the paper for wrapping it needed to be prepared first.

The paper used for Salt Baked Chicken is called gauze paper or Jade Paper, a type of semi-transparent thin paper made from bamboo.

Because it doesn’t pill or shed fibers even after repeated rubbing, and possesses good breathability, it’s used in culinary preparations.

Using this type of paper for Salt Baked Chicken allows the savory flavor of the sea salt to permeate the chicken meat, while the excess moisture in the chicken can be absorbed by the sea salt.

If Baking Paper or silicone oil paper were used instead, this effect wouldn’t be achieved.

As for completely impermeable tin foil, the resulting chicken would be identical to one roasted in an oven, completely losing the essence of salt-baking.

Going to all the trouble of buying salt and stir-frying it, only to end up with an oven-roasted style chicken.

One might as well just roast it directly in the oven.

He took three sheets of Jade Paper and laid them on the workbench. Then, he brushed a thin layer of lard onto them to prevent the collagen in the chicken skin from sticking to the paper.

Many people are very careful when making Salt Baked Chicken, yet the skin still tears when unwrapped—this is caused by the collagen sticking to the paper.

Lightly brushing some fat onto the paper can prevent this.

Lard is chosen because it’s fragrant and also makes the chicken skin more delicious.

Once the lard was brushed on, he took one of the hung chickens, placed it on the chopping board, and stuffed several crushed pieces of dried onion and ginger inside.

The rich sweetness of the dried onion enhances the chicken’s flavor.

Ginger, meanwhile, effectively removes any gamey taste from the chicken.

To prevent the tendons in the chicken legs from contracting during cooking, which would cause the chicken’s body to twist and deform, it’s necessary to break the joints at the base of the chicken legs.

"Breaking" them actually means pressing down on the chicken legs and forcefully pulling them apart to the sides until a faint CRACK is heard. That’s all there is to it.

Next, he folded the Chicken Feet into the chicken’s abdominal cavity and tucked its head under a wing root, forming a neat bundle. Then, he placed it on the lard-smeared Jade Paper and began wrapping.

When wrapping, he placed the chicken, back down, at one corner of the Jade Paper. He rolled the chicken towards the center of the paper, ensuring it was wrapped, which positioned the chicken breast-down. The paper from the initial roll was folded up over the chicken’s back.

Then, he folded the sides of the paper towards the middle, layering them over the chicken’s back.

Since the chicken’s back has less meat, the paper needed to be layered more thickly there to prevent the skin from burning.

After folding up both sides of the paper, he rolled the chicken forward.

Finally, he tucked the remaining corner of the paper into a seam, forming a small, square packet. The chicken was now wrapped.

After all the chickens were wrapped, he began placing them in the pot.

He scooped out most of the hot stir-fried sea salt, leaving a flattened layer at the bottom. Then, he placed the wrapped chickens inside one by one, leaving ample space between them.

He covered them with the remaining scooped-out sea salt and officially began the baking process.

The steps for making Salt Baked Chicken aren’t complicated: rub the cleaned chicken with marinade, hang it for a while, wrap it in lard-smeared paper, and then bury it in hot stir-fried sea salt. That’s all there is to it.

The stir-frying of the sea salt requires no additional flavorings, and the marinade itself contains no particularly prominent ingredients.

After baking for half an hour, he carefully scooped the chickens out with a wok spatula.

By this time, the salt surrounding the chickens had clumped together due to moisture evaporation. It needed to be broken up, and the salt stir-fried again until dry and aromatic. After that, he scooped most of it out, flipped the chickens, and returned them to the pot.

If it were just one chicken, such effort wouldn’t be necessary.

But since he was making a large batch today, he had to consider the salt’s absorption limit, necessitating the step of flipping the chickens and re-stir-frying the salt.

This would ensure the chickens were cooked thoroughly and also enhance their dry, savory taste.

After flipping and baking over low heat for another thirty minutes, the chickens were completely done.

With some time to spare before the school advancement banquet, Lin Xu decided to verify the Superior-grade preparation method and satisfy his own craving. He specially fished out one chicken from the pot.

The Jade Paper wrapping the chicken was completely soaked with oil.

Carefully tearing it open, a rich, savory aroma drifted out.

This aroma was incredibly delectable, possessing the unique fragrance of chicken along with a faint seafood-like note. Clearly, the savory essence of the sea salt had penetrated the meat.

After removing the outer paper, Lin Xu tore the chicken apart by hand, arranged it on a plate, and then said to Wei Qian and the others, who had been glancing over eagerly,

"Come on, try it and see how it tastes."

With that, he picked up a piece of Chicken Thigh with his chopsticks and tasted it.

Hmm, the chicken skin exuded an intense fragrance and had a slightly crispy texture. The meat was tender yet firm, and one could distinctly taste the savory flavor of sea salt within the flesh.

Delicious!

This was indeed the way Salt Baked Chicken should be eaten.

Lin Xu felt that the pre-cooking step of hanging the chickens was absolutely necessary. This step allowed excess moisture to seep out of the meat, resulting in a dry, savory, and delightful flavor.

If this chicken turned out so well, the others should too.

Next time he cooked other types of chicken, if there was a marinating step, he would try hanging them.

Perhaps that would elevate the texture and taste even further.

"Wow, this flavor is incredibly savory!"

"No wonder, with so much salt used, the umami flavor is intense!"

"It’s the first time I’ve tasted a seafood-like flavor in chicken!"

"Good heavens, this chicken is amazing! The texture is fantastic—so satisfyingly chewy."

"The marination is perfect; even the chicken breast is flavorful. That’s truly rare."

Wei Qian and a few others crowded around. Aside from Qin Wei, everyone else ate and exclaimed, feeling as if they were rediscovering chicken as an ingredient.

They hadn’t tasted the Steam Pot Chicken before, and its soupy style wasn’t really to their liking.