White Cut Chicken with Ginger Scallion Oil

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, about 1.6kg
• 5 litres water
• 60g ginger, sliced
• 6 spring onions, halved
• 2 tbsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 60g ginger, for the sauce
• 6 spring onions, for the sauce
• 1 tsp fine salt, for the sauce
• 1/2 tsp caster sugar
• 6 tbsp groundnut oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• Plenty of ice, for the plunge

Before you cook

• Take the chicken out of the fridge an hour ahead so it is not fridge-cold when it goes into the pot.
• Pull out any pockets of fat from inside the cavity and rub the tablespoon of salt over the skin and inside.
• Peel the sauce ginger and grate it finely, or mince it to a rough paste.
• Chop the sauce spring onions as finely as you can, whites and greens together.
• Combine the ginger and spring onion in a heatproof bowl with the teaspoon of salt and the sugar.
• Fill a large bowl or clean sink with cold water and a bag of ice.

Steps

1. Bring the 5 litres of water to the boil in a tall pot with the sliced ginger, halved spring onions, remaining salt and the Shaoxing wine.
2. Hold the chicken by the neck and lower it into the boiling water until submerged, then lift it out and let the water drain from the cavity.
3. Repeat this dipping twice more, which sets the skin and brings the inside of the bird up to temperature.
4. Lower the chicken in for good, breast side down, and bring the pot back to a bare simmer.
5. Turn the heat off, cover the pot tightly, and leave the chicken to sit undisturbed for 40 minutes.
6. Check the chicken by piercing the thickest part of the thigh, where the juices should run clear with no pink.
7. Lift the chicken out and lower it straight into the ice bath.
8. Leave it there for 15 minutes, until the bird is cold and the skin has tightened.
9. Drain the chicken and pat it dry, then rub the skin with the sesame oil.
10. Heat the groundnut oil in a small pan until it just begins to smoke.
11. Pour the hot oil over the ginger and spring onion in the bowl, standing back as it hisses, and stir once.
12. Chop the chicken through the bone with a heavy cleaver into 3cm pieces and reassemble them on a platter.
13. Serve at room temperature with the ginger scallion oil in a dish alongside.