My Mother's Shandong Chicken
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 20 minutes (plus overnight marinating time)
Cooking time: 45 minutes
- 1.5kg chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced
- 1 inch ginger, sliced
- 3 tablespoons maltose or honey (heat a little to make more easy to work with)
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 tablespoon black vinegar
Shandong chicken sauce
- 5 tablespoons black vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 spring onion sticks, chopped (white and green)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 red chilli, sliced
To serve:
- 1 cucumber, cut on the diagonal, into bite sized pieces
- 1/4 cup coriander and parsley
- 1 spring onion stick, cut into inch long pieces
Step 1 - Use paper towels to pat of excess water from the chicken pieces. Combine the marinade ingredients (garlic, ginger, maltose, soy sauces, cooking wine and vinegar) and brush it over the chicken pieces twice. Place the chicken on a rack over a baking tray and leave in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight, uncovered so that the marinade penetrates and the skin dries out.
Step 2 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and brush the pieces with the marinade once more. Roast for 30 minutes or until cooked through. At times my mother also deep fries the chicken for a few seconds to crisp it up although this is not that necessary a step.
Step 3 - While the chicken is roasting, simmer vinegar, sugar, garlic, chilli and spring onion for a few minutes until thickened slightly. Then add sesame oil. Set aside. When the chicken is done, chop into pieces (or serve as large pieces) and toss in the sauce. Add cucumber, coriander and extra spring onion.