Chinese 5 Spice Roast Chicken

Chinese 5 Spice Roast Chicken

• June 07, 2022

Easily one of the simple dinners I have on repeat, this Chinese 5 spice roast chicken is always a hit and can actually be used in a Chinese dinner with rice, or as a roast dinner with potatoes.

This is the second recipe in my blog series "Chinese Food on a Budget: Feed a Family of 4 for £30 a week". 

Whether you're feeding a family or just cooking for one, I recommend selecting a large sized chicken as you're likely to have leftovers then, and I'll be sharing more recipes on how to use it all up for fast and delicious meals. A whole large chicken from Sainsburys cost less than £5 and is a real budget stretcher, I managed to make 3 dinners out of 1 chicken for my family of 4!  

The 5 spice rub is very easy to make up and if you multiple the quantity, you'll have a pot of all-purpose rub for roasting all kinds of meats and it's even great in stir fries. 

Gather your ingredients.

Add salt, sugar, garlic powder, 5 spice powder and white pepper into a bowl and mix well. Here's your 5 spice mix.

Lay the chicken in a roasting tray and using a teaspoon, evenly sprinkle the spice mix all over the chicken and inside the cavity. Then add a cup of water to the roasting tin so that the water is surrounding the chicken and roast in a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees for 40 mins.

Ta-da! Isn't she a beauty? Let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting up.

Serve with rice and cooked lettuce in oyster sauce for a wholesome Chinese family dinner.

Ingredients:

For the roast chicken:

1 large whole chicken

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground white pepper (1 tsp if you like it peppery)

1/2 tsp 5 spice powder

1 cup water

For the vegetable side:

1 lettuce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

Directions:

1) Steam rice according to instructions

2) To make the spice rub, put the salt, sugar, garlic powder, 5 spice powder and white pepper into a bowl and mix well 

3) Lay the chicken in a roasting tray and using a teaspoon, evenly sprinkle the spice mix all over the chicken and inside the cavity 

4) Add 1 cup of water to the roasting tin so that the water is surrounding the chicken. Put the chicken in a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees and roast for 40 mins. You may need more or less time depending on the size of the chicken

5) Once the chicken is cooked, take out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. Cut the chicken and plate up

6) Wash and cut the lettuce into rough chunks, or quarter the the whole head and wash well. Boil a pan of water and add the lettuce in to boil for 3-5 minutes until wilted. Drain well and add in the oyster sauce. Mix thoroughly

7) Serve with rice

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