I spotted this recipe on pigs pigs corner and I instantly bookmarked it. I mean who can resist crispy, tender succulent chicken with beautifully sticky glutinous rice stuffing? And the best part of the rice is that it's filled with savoury flavourful lap cheong (chinese sausages); the Chinese cousin of bacon. Plus its an excuse for me to experiment on my newly installed oven; (well its not exactly brand new since it has been previously used by our tenant) but all in all its still a much better kitchen tool than my old convection turbo oven which doesn't seem to produce efficient results (the meat always comes out a tad dry and the browning is not even). This home-cooked recipe is actually do-able but the finished bird is sure to impress your family and friends. I followed the recipe quite precisely except changing and adding a few tweaks here and there and the bird turned out a sure winner and absolute delight to eat. The only slightly tedious part is that the chicken needs to be marinated overnight and the glutinous rice and mushrooms soaked overnight but the next day is quite easy peasy. Nevertheless, its worth putting in a bit of extra effort and you can be sure you are going to latch on and save this recipe for the special occasion when you invite some guests over for a dinner party.
Recipe for roasted chicken with glutinous rice stuffing: adapted from Pig's pig's corner, Rita's blog and noobcook
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
Salt (I used 1/2 tsp)
For marinade:
1 tbs grated ginger
1 tbs garlic - finely minced
2 tbs Lee Kum Kee char siew sauce
1 tbs honey
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tsp 5 spice powder
1 tsp white pepper powder
For rice:
2 rice cups glutinous rice
10 Chinese mushrooms - soak until softened and sliced
2 Chinese sausages (I used 1 black 1 normal)
1 tbs dried shrimps - rinsed and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp roasted peanuts
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
1 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup water used for soaking mushrooms
Rice seasonings:
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs kecap manis
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs light soy sauce (I used 1 teaspoon)
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
Directions:
The day before:
Clean and trim chicken. Pat dry with paper towels.
Generously rub salt all over chicken and the inside of the cavity. Leave to stand for about 30 mins.
Mix together ingredients for marinade and rub marinade all over chicken and the inside of the cavity. Wrap with cling flim and refrigerate overnight.
Soak glutinous and Chinese mushrooms (in separate containers) in water and leave overnight.
The next day:
Before roasting, prepare glutinous rice stuffing.
Drain rice, leave aside for later use.
Slice the mushrooms, Chinese sausages and chop up some dried shrimps.
Heat up a non-stick pot, add Chinese sausages, fry until browned.
Discard some oil in the pot, leaving about 1 tbs of oil in the pot. Add dried shrimps. fry until fragrant.
Add mushrooms. Add rice. Pour in rice wine and seasonings and toss rice. Add chicken stock and water used for soaking mushrooms. Mix. Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and leave to cook for about 20 mins.
Stuff the cooked rice into the chicken's cavity. You will havea bout half of the stuffing left, so you can start eating now =) no need to resist!
Place on a roasting rack.
Roast at pre-heated oven (220°C for 30 mins).
Remove bird from oven, baste it and continue roasting at 200°C for another hour or until done for a 2kg chicken (I roasted mine for 30 minutes at 220°C and then 45-50 minutes at 200°C for my 1.7kg bird). Check by piercing the the thigh with a knife, juices should run clear. You may have to cover with foil half way through to prevent it from burning.
