Salt baked chicken (Dung Gong Yam Guk Gai) was originally baked inside a mountain of hot salt and it is believed that the tendency for the Hakka to use quite a bit of salt stems from the need they had to replace salt lost by the body when they worked in the fields. Nowadays many restaurants cook the chicken in brine or cover it with a salty mixture shortly before steaming it, but it’s not the same. This dish has been made, successfully, in the most primitive of ovens and it works extremely well – so use your imagination and have fun. I wouldn’t suggest it for a weekday meal but it’s great fun over the weekend.

Ingredients

• 1 x 2 kg free-range chicken, cleaned, washed and dried
• 1 ½  tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
• 5 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 spring additional onions,  cut into 3cm lengths
• 5 sprigs fresh coriander, plus some extra  leaves to garnish
• 2 star anise pods
• 2 lemons, grated zest only
• 1 tbsp extra-dry vermouth
• 2,5 kg coarse salt

Method

• Rub the cavity of the chicken with the rice wine and stuff with the ginger, spring onions, coriander sprigs and pieces of star anise.
• Put the chicken, breast side up, on a grill rack and brush the skin with the vermouth – then allow the chicken to stand in a cool, airy place until the skin is dry to the touch, around 2 hours.
• Truss the chicken with string and then wrap it in a single layer of cheesecloth, bringing the ends around to tie together on top of the chicken breast with string – it should be tightly wrapped in a neat ball.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.
• Pour the salt into a big heavy steel wok that will hold the chicken snugly (you could also use a stock pot).
• Turn the heat to medium high and stir the salt frequently until it is very hot to the touch for about 10 minutes.
• Carefully pour all the salt (but leave about 2cm aside) into a heatproof oven dish that is big enough to cover the chicken and put it in the dish, breast side up, covering completely with the rest of the hot salt.
• Cover the dish and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 ½ – 2 hours, checking to see whether it is cooked at the end of the period by brushing off the salt and piercing a thigh with a sharp knife.
• If the juices are still pink, re-cover with salt and continue to bake for another 15 to 30 minutes.
• Push the salt aside and carefully remove the chicken, holding it by the knotted cheesecloth – make sure that you don’t tilt the chicken and spill any of the juices.
• Place the chicken on a large platter and remove the cheesecloth and trussing strings, discarding the salt.
• Carve the chicken or use a cleaver to chop it Chinese-style into bite-size pieces and serve hot or at room temperature, garnished with cilantro leaves and accompanied by the Hakka dipping sauces.