Hakka Salt-Baked Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, about 1.5kg
• 2.5kg coarse sea salt
• 1.5 tbsp sand ginger powder
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 4 slices ginger
• 2 spring onions
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tbsp sand ginger powder, for the dip
• 2 tbsp hot oil, for the dip
• 1 tsp grated ginger, for the dip
• 1/2 tsp fine salt, for the dip

Before you cook

• Pat the chicken bone dry inside and out with kitchen paper.
• Brush the whole bird with the Shaoxing wine.
• Rub the sand ginger powder, white pepper and fine salt over the skin and into the cavity.
• Rest the chicken uncovered on a rack in the fridge overnight so the skin dries out.
• Bring the chicken back to room temperature for 1 hour before cooking.
• Tuck the ginger slices and spring onions into the cavity and tie the legs together.
• Brush the skin with oil and wrap the bird in two layers of greaseproof paper, folding the seams tightly.

Steps

1. Tip the coarse salt into a large heavy casserole and set it over medium heat.
2. Stir the salt for 15 minutes, until it is too hot to touch and just starting to colour.
3. Scoop about two thirds of the salt into a heatproof bowl.
4. Level the salt left in the pot and set the wrapped chicken on it, breast side up.
5. Pour the reserved hot salt back over the parcel until it is completely buried.
6. Cover the pot and cook over low heat for 40 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and leave the pot undisturbed for a further 25 minutes.
8. Dig the parcel out with tongs and brush the loose salt off the paper.
9. Unwrap the chicken over a bowl so you catch every drop of the juices.
10. Joint the bird and pull the meat into large pieces with your hands.
11. Stir the dip ingredients together and add a spoonful of the collected juices.
12. Serve warm, with the dip alongside and rice to follow.