Sticky Soy & Ginger Roast Chicken

Last weekend, The Boyfriend said to me, "I haven't had your cooking in a while." You see, Leon and I don't live together and we only get to see one another over the weekends... which is also when I am too lazy to cook.

But last weekend, I said "OK, let's go to Woolies to grab some stuff and I will cook you dinner!" And so I did. I adapted the recipe from the latest Donna Hay magazine and whipped up the sticky soy and ginger roast chicken which was featured on the cover page.

Sticky Soy & Ginger Roast Chicken
Recipe adapted from Donna Hay Magazines (Oct/Nov 2013 issue)

Ingredients

• 1 cup dark soy sauce
• 1 cup kecap manis (I stick to the Indonesian ABC brand)
• 1/3 cup of Chinese black vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 40g ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
• 4 whole star anise
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 dried chillies
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised
• 1 whole chicken (approx. 1.6kg), rinsed and patted dry

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C.
2. Place all the ingredients (minus the chicken) into a large heavy-based ovenproof saucepan and place over high heat to bring to the boil.
3. Secure chicken legs with kitchen string and place the chicken, breast-side down in the pan.
4. Baste chicken with the cooking liquid then transfer into oven to cook, uncovered for 40 minutes, basting every 20 minutes.
5. Carefully turn the chicken breast-side up, and cook for a further 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes.
6. Remove chicken from pan and strain the juices. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve with the pan juices alongside some sides.

As you can see, it was super easy to cook - the only thing is that it is quite arduous having to baste the chicken every now and again. Patience is what you'll need sometimes when it comes to cooking. ;)

It tasted pretty yummy too except obviously mine doesn't look quite as good as Donna Hay's being styled up and all.

But if you're after a simple recipe when you want to spend a night in over the weekend, here's a good one to try. We sat in front of the telly, and devoured our dinner whilst watching Thor. I sat there all night going, "Just look at his hot body." ;)

I hope the Boyfriend enjoyed it, hmm I think he did... I meant the roast chicken, of course! xD