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Easy Salt-Baked Chicken

By Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Kaitlin Leung

5.0

(1)

Whole saltbaked chicken in a cast iron skillet.
Photo by Sarah Leung and Kaitlin Leung

To make salt-baked chicken, or yim guk gai in Cantonese, a whole chicken is marinated, wrapped in a parcel, placed in a wok or ceramic pot that is then filled with heated salt, and roasted. The purpose of the salt is not to flavor the chicken, but rather to transfer the heat evenly to the chicken, cooking it gently and resulting in silky, juicy meat. While the traditional method is great, we also like adapting old-school recipes so they are easier to make—in this case, replicating the flavor of a traditional salt-baked chicken without having to deal with a few pounds of sea salt. This easy version is well seasoned with the requisite sand ginger, Shaoxing wine, and just a few teaspoons of salt before it’s baked to juicy perfection.

This recipe was excerpted from 'The Woks of Life' by Bill Leung, Kaitlin Leung, Judy Leung, and Sarah Leung. Buy the full book on Amazon. Get more of our favorite Chinese chicken recipes →

What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

1 (4- to 5-pound) whole chicken, giblets and neck removed
1 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine
1 Tbsp. neutral oil
3 to 3½ tsp. fine sea salt
2 tsp. sand ginger powder or galangal powder
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. ground Sichuan peppercorns
½ tsp. white pepper powder
¼ tsp. five-spice powder
1 tsp. mushroom powder or chicken powder (optional)
3 medium garlic cloves, smashed
2 (⅛-inch-thick) slices fresh ginger, smashed
1 scallion, white part only, cut into 2-inch pieces and smashed
1 dried bay leaf
1 small or ½ medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Remove any giblets from the chicken and rinse the cavity to thoroughly clean it out (depending on how your chicken was processed, it may still contain some organ tissue in the cavity). Pat the chicken and the cavity dry with a paper towel. Be sure to disinfect your sink and work surface after handling the raw chicken.

    Step 2

    Place the chicken in a baking dish (or any vessel you can marinate it in). Rub the entire chicken with the Shaoxing wine, inside and out. In a small bowl, combine the oil, salt, sand ginger powder, sugar, ground Sichuan peppercorns, white pepper, five-spice powder, and mushroom or chicken powder (if using). Thoroughly rub the chicken inside and out with the spice mixture. Place the garlic, ginger, scallion, and bay leaf in the cavity. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the back. Cover and marinate the chicken overnight in the refrigerator.

    Step 3

    3½ to 4 hours before serving, take the chicken out of the fridge and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. (Cooking a chicken straight out of the refrigerator will result in undercooking or uneven cooking.)

    Step 4

    Set a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large cast-iron pan (it will help the chicken roast quickly and evenly) with the onion slices to protect the skin on the bottom of the chicken. Place the chicken in the pan breast side up.

    Step 5

    Roast the chicken for 75 to 85 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. When a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F, remove the chicken from the oven and tent it lightly with aluminum foil. Let it rest for 15 minutes before carving. The drippings are delicious—a bit salty, but perfect to dip the chicken pieces in. (And the bones and carcass make a tasty stock.)

Cookbook cover of The Woks of Life by Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Kaitlin Leung.
Reprinted with permission from The Woks of Life by Bill Leung, Kaitlin Leung, Judy Leung, and Sarah Leung, copyright © 2022. Photographs by Sarah Leung and Kaitlin Leung. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Buy the full book from Penguin Random House, Amazon, or Bookshop.
TagsChickenPoultryCookbooksChineseEast AsianAsianDinnerCantoneseCast Iron SkilletOven Bake

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