Take out at home: Roast Chinese Chicken
I give you permission to lick your screen. I know I’ve been tempted to do so a couple of times while editing these pictures but I managed to resist the urge and get down to business. But here’s the good news, this chicken is as good as it looks. It’s juicy, sweet, salty and fully of that Asian flavor that we all seem to love. Originally when I created this recipe I was tempted to fry the chicken and make a dipping sauce with the marinade but decided to create a healthier dish, so I roasted it instead. My friends, in no way did I sacrifice taste by roasting it instead of deep frying this bad boy. It was divine. I was in heaven. From the moment I carved the chicken and had to duck from the juice squirting back at me, I knew that this couldn’t be a bad thing. Cooking the chicken covered on a lower temperature creates a very juice bird that soaks up some of the marinade. I think the flavor overall was very close to some of the Chinese Fried Chicken I’ve had from Guyanese Chinese restaurants and that made me a very happy girl.
- 5 lb whole chicken
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- ½ tsp chili flakes
- 1 star anise
- ¼ tsp 5 spice powder
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 slices of ginger
- 3 scallions, finely chopped
- 2 pieces of orange peel
- 1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water
- In a bowl small bowl, add soy sauce, water, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, chili flakes, star anise, 5 spice powder, garlic, orange peel, ginger and scallion and mix to combine. Set aside.
- Place the whole chicken on a cutting board and with a sharp knife cut along the back bone of the chicken, starting at the tail end. Once the back bone has been cut all the way through, spread the chicken open. Now press the knife down the center of the breast bone cutting all the way through. You should now half two halves.
- Place the half in a large ziplock bag and add marinade. Allow to marinate for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place chicken skin side up and all of the marinade in a large baking dish. Cover tightly with foil then place into preheated oven. Bake covered for 1 ½ hours.
- After 1 ½ hour, turn the oven up to 425 and bake chicken uncovered for 30 minutes basting every 5 minutes.
- In the last 10 minutes of cooking, mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water and pour into baking dish. Stir carefully to combine.
- Now continue to cook the chicken and baste every 2-3 minutes with thickened sauce.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
This looks DIVINE!! Think I might try it with fish since I’m fasting.
Omg Alicia, that would be awesome! I think this marinade would made a great roasted fish.
Seriously Jehan, that looks so incredible delish! I can’t even deal. I am about to pin right now! Looks like this would be a perfect dinner to try this month.
Thanks for the love Jocelyn.
want to try this recipe, where do I get hoisin sauce, 5 spice powder and star anise to buy? can I get it in Stop& shop or Pathmark? also the orange peel,should I get an orange and use the fresh peel?
Simone, you should be able to find these spices at any Asian grocery store or on the Asian aisle if your grocery store has one. As for the orange peel use a small knife to cut a thin strip of the peel, try to get as little of the white part as possible.
I am sooo trying this! Looks delicious
I would be doing both halves in separate roasting pans?? or one large pan
Mary one 13×9 baking pan would be the perfect size for both halves.
This looks awesome. I love Asian sauces. I will have to try this one out!
You know my feelings about this chicken.
Yes, Mali I know 🙂
Could this be marinated over night?
Karen I wouldn’t recommend doing so. I think 4 hours is enough.
On my menu for next week!!! Keep the recipies coming 🙂 between you skinny taste and pinterest planning has gotten much easier and you have introduced me to all 3. 😉 thank you!!!
You’re welcome Terri. Let me know how it turns out.
I made this today and it was marvelous! I wouldn’t change a thing. It was so good, I just had to leave a comment. And it really is reminiscent of the chicken at the Guyanese style Chinese restaurants here in NY.
Will try and let you know how it comes out!
My kids are very picky when it comes to chicken, they only like legs and breast. Do you think I could do this with just the legs and breast?
Lori you can do this with any part of the chicken that you choose.
My husband was complaining earlier on how he married a Guyanese gurl who doesn’t cook Guyanese food. So I made this and your pine tarts. They turned out splendid. Thank you for sharing. Keep up the good work.
Jehan I tried this recipe today ..It came out fantastic!!!!
Lovely chicken.my daughter goes yummy chicken.i loved this website. Today I am making the egg ball, I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Absolutely spot on! Perfect recipe. Delicious and juicy. Was a big hit in my house. And very simple. Next time I’ll definitely have to double up. There was nothing left but bones. Love this blog!!
So I have made this recipe about 25 time since it was first posted. It has become that recipe I am “known” for, lol! I have tried to make it with duck, it turned out ok. You need a really fatty duck and drastically reduce the temperature to prevent the meat from drying out. I am tried almost all the recipes posted on here minus and few. Have yet to come across something we don’t like! Keep up the fabulous work – From a fellow Guyanese-Canadian girl trying to stick to her roots
OMG!!! I made this last night. FALL OFF THE BONE JUICYNESS. I had no 5 spice so I just added some cinnamon and clove. I also did not add the orange peel; left it out entirely. Coming from Guyana, I do miss the taste of home (now living in Tokyo), you my friend, are my life saviour. Keep up the great work!
Looks yummy. I would like to try this tomorrow! What should I base this bird with? Thanks.
Samantha, you baste the bird with the pan juices.
Thank you soooo much for this recipe. I tried it a few weeks ago and it was AMAZING! Being Guyanese, my family is not too fond of turkey, so I’m making it for thanksgiving. Keeping my fingers cross that it turns out perfect again.
Made this today and it was wonderful! Thx for great recipe and pics! Love ur site!
I make this chicken probably twice a month! My family always devours it and my children argue about who gets to take leftovers to school for lunch the next day. Thank-you for the fantastic recipe that is easy to execute and looks absolutely gorgeous served on the table.
Lovinggggggggg it ….. Keep up the wonderful work of inspiring people to cook..
What does the corn starch do at end, when it’s added with the water?
Priya, the cornstarch thickens the sauce.
This was truly fabulous! I made it for New Years brunch.. Everybody enjoyed it! Even my mother in law.. That’s saying something! I didn’t have a star anise, however I did have star anise essence.. So I used a drop of that. I also used kitchen shears to cut the chicken rather than a knife. I love this site (yes, I’m getting gushy) I made the cheese pie as well and was asked for the recipe! You have no idea how thrilled I was.. Lol. Thanks again, dear. Keep posting and I’ll keep cooking! I really hate cooking but this makes it easy:)
Gyirl, I can’t wait to try this. I missed that Guyanese style Chinese chicken sooo much. This looks very yummy !
This is my first time on your site and from what I’ve seen so far, it wouldn’t be the last.
This is absolutely delicious!!! Cooked plenty of time, next time I will remove the foil after 1 hour. I also didn’t baste it as much as they said. I basted every ten minutes after I removed the foil, removed the chicken from the pan and added the cornstarch to the pan and put the pan right on the stove top on medium to thicken it. Worked great and less hassle.
Served with stir fried veggies and rice noodles and topped it all with some of the glaze!! YUM!
Wow, is this amazing! I made 1 change which I don’t think impacted the flavor. Prior to adding the cornstarch, I ran the sauce through my gravy separator to get rid of the fat. I added that back to the pan and stirred in the cornstarch, then finished cooking. This truly is a wonderful dish. Easy to prepare and has a wow factor when it is done. Thanks!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious!!!!! My husband ate one of the halves ..amazingly good food
this is a wonderful recipe, I have one question. I hardly use soy sauce but I do use cassreep. Can I use the cassreep instead?
Vish, I really don’t know how it will turn out since I’ve never made it with cassareep.
I can’t wait to try this one out! My husband and I really enjoy the takeout from Guyanese/Chinese restaurants in NY. He will be sooo happy if I can make it at home! Do you know if this is similar to the red chicken they serve in Hack’s Halal (Georgetown)? That’s his all-time fave food. 😀
Heba, I don’t have the recipe. Sorry..
Hi Jen , omg I cant thank you enough for all this wonderful recipe , I try the fudge last week , the sponge cake , everything was perfect , thanks again
Thanks Diane, I glad you enjoyed it!
Had no orange peel this time around, so I substituted about 1/2 cup orange juice and yummm taste just a good as the first time I used orange peel. Thank you for the recipe Jehan, you saved my Sunday 🙂
Dionne, I will have to try it with the OJ, I’m sure it gave it a great flavor!
I’m seeing salt. Does this recepie include salt?
Priya this recipe has no added salt because the soy sauce and hoisin sauce has a lot of sodium so adding salt isn’t necessary.
Thanks Jules. It sounds as though you dough may be too stiff. Make sure the measurements are accurate.
So, Saturday is my night to cook. I hate cooking, but I am great at it. Your recipe just made me the greatest cook alive, at least in my house. It was easy, and I didn’t know they sold some of these ingredients in my grocery store. This is my first time checking out your site, but I will be back after tonight’s success.
Thank you very much for this recipe, I made two whole chicken and it was all gone the same day, my family loved it. I am making another batch tomorrow.
Great recipe
Thanks for sharing this recipe – that chicken looks mouthwatering. I just have to try this recipe.
Thank you for posting this!! My kids LOVE this chicken, especially my extremely picky step daughter. I’m pretty sure she requests that I make this every other day, it’s now become a once a weeker for us!
Hi Jehan, this is the second time I’m trying this recepie exact as is. But my problem is, it always came out white, not even close to that beautiful color that your chicken have… Help please…. Thank you!
Priya, it could be a few reason why your chicken is white. If the soy sauce is too light this could be an issue. Also is your oven correctly calibrated? At that temperature it should brown after being uncovered for half an hour, if not turn your oven temperature up. I hope this helps.
Thank you for the reply. Yeah I used light soy sauce… My temp was same as mention. But at last, I broil it to get the color, was still yummy 🙂 thank you.. Keep up the great work.. I also tried your custard was wonderfully amazing delicious
Thank You Jehan for this amazing recipe! I should add though that I actually marinated it longer (not sure if it changed the results) but the taste is mind blowing. Thank you again for sharing with us ☺️
Hello Jehan! I tried out this recipe a few months back, and it was a smash! My roommate and I were very pleased with the roast. The smell coming from the oven was worth the price of admission. Thanks so much for this recipe and all your other great ones 🙂
I cannot wait to try thr recipe. I have a ton of skinless breasts, will the results be the same? What would you recommend for browning the breast.
No it wont be the same, the chicken breast will dry out.
JehanP
You rock!!!. I love Guyanesse Chinnese. Yummy!!! Since moving to Florida. I really missed it. Can’t wait to try it. I will let you know. Question: better on glass baking pan?
Thanks Cliff, metal is better.
Jehan thanks again for the tasty n recipes. I’ve tried this and it’s delicious. I was wondering though instead of baking how about putting it in a slow cooker…you think that’ll work?
Latish, I haven’t used a slow cooker for this recipe but I wouldn’t recommend it. The skin will be rubbery and not crispy as it should be.
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Hey Jehan just wanted to let you know that this is my go to chicken dish whenever I have people comin over for dinner. I’m even making it as part of my Easter Sunday menu my whole family loves it. THANK YOU! THANK YOU.
Do you have a recipie for Guyanese Chinese fried rice?
Hi Faz, sorry I don’t.
Hi Jehan where can I find hoisin sauce to buy
Andrea at any Asian grocery store or even your local supermarket in the Asian section.