Szechuan Roast Chicken

Anyone who needs to eat gluten free will know that eating out in many Asian eateries can be a nightmare so I have started making more and more gluten free versions of meals that I remember from my gluten days.

Don’t be tempted to through out the bones and leftover pan juices! Boil them up to make the most flavoursome stock for any future Chinese style cooking.

Serves 8.

Ingredients

2 x 1.6kg whole chickens

3 teaspoons Szechaun peppercorns

6 garlic cloves

60mls gluten free soy sauce

250mls chicken stock

40g ginger, skin on, thinly sliced

Method

In a mortar and pestle, crush the Szechaun pepper and garlic. Tip into your roasting tin.

Add the soy sauce, chicken stock and ginger to the roasting tin.

Take a chicken and carefully seperate the skin from the flesh over the breast and legs, repeat with the second chicken.

Place the chicken into the roasting tin and carefully pour some of the marinade under the skin of each bird and massage well in. Place a few ginger slices into the cavity of each chicken. Marinade the chicken, turning occasionally, for 6-8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.

Turn the chicken, breast side up, cover with a piece of dampened baking parchment and then with foil, ensuring that it is really well sealed.

Bake for 90 minutes.

Turn the oven up to 210 degrees, uncover the chicken and baste with the pan juices.

Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, basting regularly until cooked through and dark golden.

Allow to rest for talents 20 minutes.

While the chicken rests, strain the pan juices into a small pan, add a little chicken stock or water if you don’t have much.

Slice the chicken with the skin on and pour over the warmed pan juices.