Margaret Xu’s yellow earth chicken

Yellow earth chicken is roasted in a terracotta urn/stove fueled with charcoal, a stove created and designed by Chef Margaret Xu. The high temperature brought by the terracotta makes the chicken skin crispy.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

The urn is made with two terracotta (yellow earth in Chinese) plant pots, one put upside down on top of the other, to create a “drum” for even heat induction. The chicken is marinated and served with the chef’s own recipe of homemade fresh wild ginger oil.

Ingredients

• 1 whole fresh chicken, approx. 1 kg
• 1½ tbsp rock salt
• 1 tbsp homemade fruit wine (mandarin or lychee) (optional)

Wild ginger marinade

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh wild ginger, chopped (see Note) 
• 1 whole curry leaf 
• 1 tsp sea salt

Marinading time: 4- 6 hours

Instructions

To make the chicken marinade, mix all the ingredients together and allow the flavours to infuse overnight.

Make the marinade by mixing the ingredients in a small bowl.

Season the inside of the chicken with 1 tbsp of the wild ginger marinade. Rub the outside of the chicken with the rock salt. Place it covered on a baking tray for at least 4-6 hours in the fridge.

Hang chicken in the terracotta charcoal oven for 45 mins -1 hr, or alternatively, roast the chicken in preheated oven 180°C convection in an upright position, for the oil to drip downwards) for 45 minutes.

Serve immediately, with more wild ginger oil on the side.

Notes

• In places where fresh wild ginger (also known as sand ginger) is hard to find, there are dried powdered versions of the ginger in Asian grocery stores.

• Corn fed chicken with a layer of “golden fat” just under the skin would be perfect for this chicken.

• Special roasting racks with a dripping pan for standing chicken upright in the oven are available in cookware stores; it allows the fat to drip down and allows the skin to crisp up.

Luke Nguyen's Food Trail airs 8pm, Thursdays on SBS and then you can catch-up on SBS On Demand. Visit the program page for recipes, videos and more.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

The urn is made with two terracotta (yellow earth in Chinese) plant pots, one put upside down on top of the other, to create a “drum” for even heat induction. The chicken is marinated and served with the chef’s own recipe of homemade fresh wild ginger oil.