Fragrant crispy skin Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken served with pepper salt. Perfect for the Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner or a weekend dinner.
A chicken dish is a must-have for the Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner. Typically, a whole chicken with the head and all is served to symbolize wholeness and prosperity. When I was a kid, the silky smooth Pak Cham Gai (in Cantonese dialect) or “white cut chicken” was very popular. This dish is similar to the silky smooth chicken in this popular Hainanese Chicken Rice post.
Kampung/Village/Organic Chicken
Most families will pre-order an organic chicken known in Malaysia as kampung or village chicken, for the purpose of preparing Pak Cham Gai. I remember one year, someone actually gifted us with a life chicken. Mom and aunt had the task of slaughtering the chicken and preparing it. Please use your imagination for the rest of the story. Suffice to say the dish wasn’t very popular with the kids that year.
Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken
An alternative to Pak Cham Gai is this Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken. Back in the old days, this roast chicken was a favorite at the Chinese 10-course wedding banquets. They would surround the whole roasted chicken with shrimp crackers and sliced cucumbers. There would be several small plates of pepper salt on the for diners to further flavor the chicken. This was one of the few dishes eaten with salt instead of soy sauce. Most kids enjoyed this dish and few were fazed with the chicken head. Thank goodness times have changed and that “garnish” is not a norm on the plate these days!
Chicken Preparation for Roasting
Some people like to marinate the chicken overnight with ginger, scallion, and Shao Hsing cooking wine. It is then drained, air dried, applied with a rub, and air dried again for several hours before roasting. The version I am showing here is a simplified one where the chicken is placed on a beer can roaster so that it sits upright during roasting. The juices drip onto the pan producing a chicken with crispy skin. The fragrant salt is easy to prepare and is good with most meats.
Below is a picture of a beer can roaster. You have the option of placing a can of beer or soda in the center to flavor the chicken and keep the meat moist. One of these days, I will give it a try.
Similar Tools Used in Making This Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken
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Aluminum Baking Sheet Set with Stainless Steel Cooling Rack
Stainless Steel Beer Chicken Roaster
Stainless Steel Beer Can Chicken Rack
INGREDIENTS
- 1 roasting chicken (3 to 4 lbs)
- 3 tsp sea salt
- 1½ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
INSTRUCTIONS
- Remove giblets and excessive fat from chicken. Rinse chicken including the inside. Pat dry the outside and place it on a beer can chicken roaster to drip dry for an hour.
- Pan fry sea salt and ground white pepper over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until fragrant.
- Combine half of the pan fried pepper salt, five-spice powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Reserve the other half of the pepper salt for serving.
- Remove chicken from the roaster and liberally sprinkle or pat mixture on the inside and outside of the chicken. Place chicken back onto roaster and allow it to dry for another hour.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Truss chicken by tying the lower part of the wings and legs together.
- Roast chicken in pre-heated oven on the beer can roaster for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes or until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone registers 180°F.
- Remove roasted chicken from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving.
- Serve chicken with slices of cucumber, shrimp crackers, and pepper salt.
NUTRITION
Pepper Salt
If you do try this Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken, definitely reserve some of that fragrant pepper salt for dipping. It really does make the chicken tastes even more flavorful. It is also great with the cucumber slices.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
love this great idea to roast chicken with 5 spice doing this soon
I think you will not be disappointed. It may look simple but it is very tasty. 🙂
I always like this very traditional way of home-roasting chicken but not brave enough to roast one on my own. I find your step by step instructions very helpful and will definitely use your instructions if I’m roasting my own chicken.
I hope you will give it a try. It is really quite simple. 🙂
This looks so good! A great way to change up classic roast chicken. I’ve never used a beer can roaster or even seen such a device – so interesting! Thanks!
That beer can roaster is a convenient “gadget” to have in the kitchen. It was a very inexpensive way to replace my rotisserie oven. 🙂
Beautiful roasted chicken, I especially like the 5 spice rub…so tasty. Beautifully done.
Hope you have a wonderful week ahead Biren 🙂
Thanks Juliana! 5-spice is wonderful with chicken.
Oh my gosh, that looks delicious. I love 5-spice powder and plan to make this very, very soon. I have to say, I hope no one ever gifts me with a live chicken! That must have been horrifying for your mom. What a story though!
Thanks Christiane! I hope you enjoy the recipe.
Thankfully I grew up towards the end of the era when women had to dress their own fowl. We lived in the city and Mom was relieved that she could buy dressed chicken at the markets. I would have given the chicken away… 🙂
This is a nice chicken dish for CNY reunion dinner! If you are interested may consider submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #15 – Auspicious Dishes for CNY (Jan 12) hosted by me.
http://wensdelight.blogspot.com/2012/01/aspiring-bakers-15-auspicious-dishes.html
Happy New Year!
Thanks for the invite. Will check out the post soon. 🙂
Would you believe I just had this wonderful dish a few days ago at a cousin’s wedding? After we cleared the chicken pieces off the plate, there was the head with beak and all, staring at the ten of us, seated around the table. I did feel a bit guilty, but what can I say? It was delicious! Your roast looks perfectly done.Crisp golden skin and I can imagine how juicy that plump thigh must be. I could easily go for another round 😉
Good to see you here, my friend. 🙂 Haha…so they do still serve it with the head!! I wonder how my boys will react to such a sight. It is one thing to grow up with it but I can imagine it must be quite shocking to someone not familiar with it at all. Miss those wedding banquets.
Beautiful Roast Chicken!! I bet the five spice made it sing! Love your roasting device too. Have a great week! ~ Ramona
That chicken looks delightful! I love roasted chicken and I have to try this version! Looks so crispy and tasty!
Dear Biren,
Happy New Year to you and your family! I have been reading all your posts but I have not been able to put my comments in, apologies! This chicken is absolutely delicious – just made it last night with 2 chicken leg quarters. I had forgotten how delicious this simple rub can be. My husband liked it too, even though he is not a fan of 5-spice. Thank you!
Thanks for reading and following along! I am happy that you have tried quite a few of my recipes and I do appreciate your feedback as well. So glad to hear this went down well with the family. 🙂
anything with 5 spice is an A+ in my book. this chicken looks so flavorful and perfect for guests
I love 5 spice too. The chicken is perfectly roasted. Miss shrimp crackers.
Biren, I think the five spices is magical. It enhances the taste of all kinds of meat. I am sure when you roast this chicken, the whole house is filled with the spice fragrance. While typing this comment, I can feel myself salivating. The beer can device look so interesting. I will definitely buy one and use it if I spot it someday!
5 Spice is a wonderful spice mixture. Chicken is a perfect vessel for it. Your beer can roaster is a neat gadget! Never seen one before!
This sounds so simple to make but looks really tasty & flavorful. Hope I could try this one of these days!
You must be so busy preparing for CNY! We always celebrate it with friends at a restaurant so I’m not very familiar with traditions or traditional food that people make at home. This roasted chicken looks so yummy! We can eat it for regular days, maybe for me with drummets or drumsticks. Drooling as I imagine the taste!
that’s a great looking chicken Biren.
Easy and delicious roast chicken with five-spice! Yum!
Biren – My next roast chicken will definitely have the 5-spice powder. I also need to try this beer can method. I keep hearing about it but have never actually tried. Your chicken looks really crispy!
I love hearing of all the dishes and what goes into the CNY celebration. I love beer can chicken, you should really try it that way sometime. I have seen the beer can gadget at Walmart. It reminds me to pull mine out again and use it…funny how we get away from some methods for awhile. I am using your simple but delicious 5 spice blend.
Yes, I must definitely try the beer can roast chicken soon. I hope you will give this a try as I think you will enjoy it. It is so simple too!
Yum! What a recipe. I have a chicken waiting to be cooked and I think I’m going to try this!
Wow, this chicken looks awesome!
looks easy and yummy! I can’t wait to try!
Any idea where can I get that beer can roaster?
In the US, this beer can roaster can be found in any of the major retailers, grocery and kitchen stores.