Salted Baked Chicken Yim Guk Kai Recipe

Salt-baked Chicken (Yim Guk Kai) has its origins in the Hakka community.

Recipe
1 kg organic or free-range chicken, washed and patted dry

Marinade
1 tbsp ginger juice
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
½ tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp sugar

Stuffing
20g codonopsis root (dong sum)
10g angelica root (dong quai)
1 tbsp wolfberries (kei chi)
15g Solomon’s seal (yok chok)
2 pieces greaseproof paper measuring 60x30cm
1 tbsp potato flour, mixed into a gum paste with a little hot water
3.5 kg coarse rock salt

Combine the marinade ingredients; rub or coat chicken with the marinade. Wash the stuffing ingredients and place into the cavity of the bird.

Set the chicken on the two pieces of parchment paper for a double-layer wrap. Fold the paper, overlapping, around the chicken to form a parcel. Seal with the gum paste to form a water-tight parcel.

Place the rock salt into an old wok. Heat salt over medium flame, stirring continuously for five to eight minutes. Make a well in the middle of the hot salt, place the chicken parcel in, and cover completely with salt. Cook, covered with a lid, over low heat for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn chicken over once halfway through the cooking time, making sure no juices spill out. Remove and serve warm.

Source: The Star Newspaper