Hakka Style Salt-baked Chicken

Salt-baked chicken Hakka style at Southern Delicacy

The other day we went to Southern Delicacy restaurant in Vancouver and tried salt baked chicken, a traditional Hakka dish.

My mother remembers her mother stir-frying coarse salt in the wok for a long time before burying a chicken wrapped in parchment paper in the salt and cooking it for about an hour.

Chicken wrapped in parchment paper

She remembers it being hard work, constantly shovelling the salt to prevent it from burning.

The one we tried was fantastic -- the meat was cooked through, but tender, juicy, and seasoned perfectly, not salty at all.

It sounds similar to Italian salt-baked cod, which isn't wrapped in parchment paper at all, though the skin acts as a barrier between the salt and fish meat.

In the case of the chicken, I looked up the recipe and it doesn't look too difficult?!

Take a raw chicken and rub Shaoxing wine on it, as well as sand ginger powder, salt and white pepper. Then let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day take the chicken out and let it warm up to room temperature, tie up the legs and wrap it in parchment paper. Meanwhile get some coarse salt, the same weight as the bird, and in a clean wok, stir-fry the salt for about 15 minutes over medium heat, until the salt turns light brown.

Have a Dutch oven ready and pour some of that salt in there, add the wrapped chicken and then cover it with the rest of the salt.

Wrapped chicken in coarse salt

Cover the Dutch oven and have it on the stove on medium heat for around 35 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it sit for another 30-40 minutes.

The chicken should be done by then.

Some recipes suggest the presentation of the chicken should be deboned, while others, including the restaurant, serve it chopped with bones attached.