Wednesday 13 December 2017

Christmas Roast Chicken : Episode 2


So how, can ah? To be honest with you, I find angmoh style roast chicken not very exciting in terms of flavor.

From what I see on TV/Youtube, they just season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil/rub with butter, stuff the ass with lemon and rosemary and boom it goes into the oven. Mana eh ho chiak?

But it's for Christmas eve dinner. Of course must do it the angmoh way (I have a story for this, but wait first after Christmas) or else it would spoil the mood (their's, not mine). 

If you ask me, I say ayam golek and nasi minyak for Christmas eve dinner and I tell you, Santa Claus won't leave your house (and you can hijack all the pressies).


After the not-so happening and sickly looking roast chicken the week before, I was game for another experiment. This time, I reckon that if I marinated the chicken with salt and pepper the night before, the meat would taste loads better. 

Then I also decided to dry the chicken by way of leaving it naked in the fridge so that when roasted, the skin becomes very crispy.

So I was confronted with this obscenity the next morning.

Bonjour ma cherie!
I took the chicken out from the fridge 3 hours before roasting. This is for it to come to room temperature, totally not cold to the touch. It would not do to put a still cold chicken into the hot oven.

I made a butter rub for the chicken by mixing about 2 tablespoons of butter with a large clove of crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper and 1 teaspoon dried rosemary.


After giving the chicken a good rub down, I stuffed 3 cloves of garlic and a lemon into its cavity. Then it was a spot of bondage with me trussing the chicken.

Actually it is not difficult to truss a chicken. There is not need to go hoity toity like those chefs you see on TV. Just start with the legs, tie them together and then run the string around the chicken making sure you go round the wings and come full circle back to the legs (ankle) and tie.

My oven has a turntable and I had to take advantage of that feature. If I placed the chicken on the rack, it would be too high up the oven and in the past, I burnt my chicken. So  I improvised like so. Please excuse my dirty oven.


With the chicken going round and round in the oven, it would get evenly roasted. I roasted the chicken at a higher temperature and longer time compared to the first time. It was 200C (instead of 180C) for 1 hour 20 minutes (instead of 1 hour 10 minutes, the chicken was till bloody inside).


It came out like this, the skin very crispy! There wasn't much drippings in the pan but some juices oozed out when I lifted the chicken (perhaps from the cavity).

After resting the chicken for 30 minutes, I carved it and noted that it was cooked through and tastewise it was quite acceptable. 


OK. I think I got it. Now I have to figure out how to make the gravy. Aiyah, no need lah. Just pour some chili sauce and we are good. Hopefully, next year I won't be asked to roast. Hah!

34 comments:

  1. I'm early today... Do I have a share in the chicken? Lol...

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  2. well done for not giving up! looks very good this time. ah so you have been appointed to be the head chef to cook this roast chicken for Christmas!

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    1. No, not the head chef. Just the chicken roaster hee..hee...

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  3. I salute you, if me, you ask me to do it, I surrender liao and also I am lazy...

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  4. Yay!! Finally you managed to roast the chicken to perfection with the crispy & golden brown skin. I knew your earlier disaster would have a happy ending with this follow up post. You are such a fighter even in the kitchen with woks & mortar and accepts no defeat.

    I kesian your ayam because you handcuffed the legs!! Did the ayam struggle and kick inside the oven?? Next time slap its head and hypnotize it to sleep well when you marinate it or sing lullabies to lull it to sleep.

    #AyamHong #KesianAyamKenaGari #SingLullabies

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    1. hah..hah... I have to tie it up like that or else the legs and wings will terkangkang and cannot cook evenly.

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  5. Great job, PH! I love chicken with crispy skin! xoxo

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    1. Thanks, Shirley! I will do this for my future roast chickens :)

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  6. We will usually have roast chicken too, a big one, not crazy about turkey.

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    1. Haven't eaten turkey and from what I hear, it is not as nice as chicken.

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  7. Hi Phong Hong, fully agree with your comments above. Again, it is a matter of familiarity of taste. Anyway, the roast chicken looks good but prefers it with crispy skin. Hahaha!

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    1. Hi Kimmy! Our Asian tastebuds is more complex. I find angmoh food a bit one dimensional.

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  8. Oh I see, there's a simple way of trussing a chicken...now I know :) You know what, I always stick my chicken into the oven straight from the fridge. That's because I dare not let the chicken come down to room temperature for fear of bacteria. What would be the notable difference in taste if it's put in cold?

    No need to apologise for your dirty oven...mine looks like that too...aren't they suppose to be? Kekeke! :D Looking at the pic of your oven and the fact that you mentioned that it has a turntable, I'm guessing your oven is a microwave oven with convection facilities? Same like mine. I thought you're using those proper 2-decker ovens which I was told is better for baking cakes and cookies. Now I'm truly amazed at how good your cakes and cookies turn out using a small oven! O_o P/S: Your chicken looks nicely browned and delicious this time. ^.^

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    1. For chicken pieces, I think it is still ok to put in when it is still cold as it heats up more quickly. Form what I read, the meat of the cold chicken will seize when exposed to sudden heat. Also, for whole chicken, you may end up with the outside cooked but the inside still raw.

      Our ovens are well used and it shows! hah..hah.. Yup, it is a microwave oven with convection facilities. I find it OK for cakes and cookies. But I do wish I had a bigger oven hee..hee..

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  9. You succeeded! Frankly, I agree with you that angmoh roasts are not exciting. I prefer our local marinates.

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    1. I did! Yah, our Asian marinades are more complex in taste. Maybe we are not used to the simpler angmoh style.

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  10. My sister taught me to use a bit of oyster sauce, light sauce, pepper and salt.. like that, kau thim, she said. Yet to try la... still procrastinating and my oven is still sitting in the kitchen untouched! hahahaa

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    1. Oyster sauce is always good in anything! Aiyah, time to bring your oven out to celebrate Christmas :)

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  11. I love your not giving up spirit, well done ph and LOL at the obscenity

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  12. Perfect roast chicken! I love salting and air drying overnight, too! Now I need to add this to our menu!!!

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    1. Thank you! I hope that the ones I roast for the dinner turn out as well as this one did :)

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  13. For me, fried chicken is the best la, haha!
    But it's ok to switch to roast chicken once a while too!

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    1. I agree, Fried chicken is the best! hee..hee...

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  14. I'm not even good at roasting chicken parts (drumsticks or wings, so roast a whole chicken seem like a mission impossible to me >_<

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    1. Nothing is impossible hah..hah.. You must try and I am sure you will succeed.

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  15. Better looking. Must taste good too.

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  16. I bet the garlic and rosemary were great additions. Waiting to the hear the story of why it must be angmoh style?

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    1. You have lived here quite a while and I take it you know what is angmoh hah..hah... Well, it's for Christmas eve dinner so it would not do to have Chinese style chicken, at least that's what the hostess must be thinking.

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  17. haha..angmoh herbs not strong and flavorful like the Chinese ones. Yea, but if for Christmas I prefer the angmoh style roasted chicken....like that baru shiok mah

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