This roast chicken recipe has my favourite ingredients such as chicken, salted black beans, fresh shiitake, ginger and herbs.
Why this chicken dish is good for you
The chicken nourishes blood and therefore strengthen your energy. The shiitake mushroom strengthens the stomach and spleen therefore helps make blood. The black beans have detox and anti-bacterial properties. And the ginger warms and protects the stomach. So together energetically this roast chicken dish will help fortify you for the winter season.
Winter chicken roast
How to prepare and cook
Ingredients:
• one good size organic chicken
• 250-500 grams of shiitake mushrooms (organic if possible)
• 2 table spoons of salted black beans (you can find it in your local Chinese grocery shop)
• sliced fresh organic ginger (a good chunk of the root)
• salt (and herbs such as thyme and spices such as chili to taste)
• sherry or Chinese wine: two table spoons
• one organic onion or shallot
• sesame oil
Preparation
Clean the chicken. Rub the salt all over the chicken. Pour sherry over chicken. Put ginger and black beans in a bowl, after slicing the ginger and dicing up the black beans together with the sesame oil – and then crush it together gently to release the juices. Once you have done that rub the mixture all over the chicken. Also put some of the mixture in between the flesh of the chicken and the skin on the breast. Slice as soon as you can the shiitake mushrooms. Stuff some of the mushrooms in the cavity of the chicken. Then put the rest of the mushrooms around the chicken in the baking tray. Place the sliced onion or shallots under the chicken. The chicken is now ready to go in the oven. Put at 200° C for about an hour and a half. After about 45 minutes check your chicken and if it is nice and brown you can add some of the gravy on top for another 15 minutes and then you can turn it to the other side for the rest of the time. After about two hours of cooking take out the chicken and test it to see if it’s cooked.
This roast chicken is best served with rice.
Serves four. Preparation time 20 min. Cooking time 1.5-2 hour depending on the size of the chicken.