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Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken

By: 👩‍🦳 Linda · · · 🗨 34 Comments

Recipe ▼

Fragrant crispy Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken served with pepper salt. Perfect for Chinese New Year Reunion or a weekend dinner.

Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken served with pepper salt and shrimp crackers.

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 gave us a life chicken. Mom and aunt had to slaughter and prepare the chicken. 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 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!

Fragrant crispy skin Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken.

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 you 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 into 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 the beer can roaster I used. 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 that a try.

Beer can roaster

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

Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken served with pepper salt and shrimp crackers.

Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken

Fragrant crispy skin Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken served with pepper salt. Perfect for the Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner or a weekend dinner.
Author : Linda Ooi
Course : Main Dish
Cuisine : Chinese
Keyword : five-spice roast chicken, roast chicken
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 1 hr 20 mins
Total Time 1 hr 30 mins
Servings : 4
Calories : 361kcal

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

Calories: 361kcal
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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.

Golden and fragrant crispy Chinese Five-Spice Roast Chicken.

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Comments

  2. Zoe says

    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.

    Reply

    • Biren says

      That beer can roaster is a convenient “gadget” to have in the kitchen. It was a very inexpensive way to replace my rotisserie oven. 🙂

      Reply

    • Biren says

      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… 🙂

      Reply

  7. denise @ singapore shiok says

    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 😉

    Reply

    • Biren says

      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.

      Reply

  10. Dongxing says

    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!

    Reply

    • Biren says

      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. 🙂

      Reply

  13. Quay Po Cooks says

    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!

    Reply

  16. Nami | Just One Cookbook says

    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!

    Reply

  19. Hyosun Ro says

    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!

    Reply

  20. Lyndsey @The Tiny Skillet says

    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.

    Reply

    • Biren says

      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!

      Reply