Noble House Salt Baked Chicken Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S SALT ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Dry the outside of chicken with paper towels. Tuck the wing tips underneath the chicken and place into a large oven-safe skillet. Use scissors to snip off the tail, if desired.
• Generously sprinkle kosher salt into the cavity and over the back and sides of chicken. Tie chicken legs together with kitchen twine. Sprinkle salt generously over the breasts, coating them thoroughly. Wipe excess salt out of skillet with paper towels.
• Bake chicken in the preheated oven until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into a thigh, not touching bone, reads 160 degrees C (70 degrees C), 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from skillet to a serving platter and let rest 5 to 10 minutes.
• Blot about 90 percent of the chicken fat from the skillet with a paper towel held with tongs, leaving the browned bits of food in the skillet. Place skillet over medium-high heat and add thyme leaves. Cook and stir until thyme is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour lemon juice, chicken broth, and water into skillet, stirring until the browned bits dissolve and the sauce has reduced by about half, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low, add cold butter, and stir until butter has begun to melt. Add any accumulated juices from the chicken to sauce and continue to stir until butter is incorporated and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken to serve.

SALT-BAKED SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN WITH GINGER SCALLION SAUCE

Steps:

• Measure out 1 tablespoon salt from the box into a small bowl; add the 1 tablespoon sand ginger powder and the white pepper and mix well until combined. Measure out 1/4 teaspoon salt from the box into a medium heatproof bowl. Set both bowls aside.
• Pat the chicken dry all over with paper towels then transfer to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Brush both sides of the chicken with the Shaoxing wine; evenly sprinkle both sides with the sand ginger mixture and rub in. Let sit, skin-side up, in a cool place away from direct sunlight for 1 hour.
• During the last 30 minutes of the hour, pour the remaining salt from the box into a Dutch oven. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the temperature of the salt reaches 450 to 500 degrees F, 20 to 30 minutes. It's okay if the salt darkens slightly. Lower the heat to low.
• Prepare two 2 1/2-foot-long sheets of parchment paper on a work surface. Add the ginger slices and scallion segments in an even layer to one of the sheets; place the chicken on top with the legs pointing toward a short side of the parchment. Fold the long sides of the parchment over the chicken, followed by the short sides to fully wrap the bird. Feel free to roll the short sides for a tighter seal. Slide the twine under the parchment and tie up the package like a gift, crossing the ends across the middle lengthwise and crosswise. Repeat wrapping and tying the chicken with the second sheet of parchment and second piece of twine.
• Carefully transfer half of the hot salt from the Dutch oven into another medium heatproof bowl and set aside.
• Level the remaining salt in the Dutch oven with a wooden spoon to create an even layer at least 1/4 inch deep. Nestle in the wrapped chicken, breast-side up. Pour the reserved hot salt directly on top. Cook, covered, over medium-high heat for 50 minutes. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and let sit, covered, for 30 minutes. The residual heat will continue to cook the chicken.
• Meanwhile, add the sugar, grated ginger, minced scallions and remaining 1/4 teaspoon sand ginger powder to the reserved 1/4 teaspoon salt; mix until well combined then set aside.
• Add any reserved fat from the chicken to a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until the fat is rendered and any solids are dark brown and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the amount of chicken fat). If rendering the fat does not yield 1/2 cup of liquid, make up the difference with the store-bought rendered fat or neutral oil and heat until hot. Add 2 tablespoons of the hot fat at a time to the ginger scallion mixture; if it bubbles up, let it settle for about 15 seconds after each addition. Stir until everything is combined. Set aside until ready to serve.
• When the 30 minutes are up for the chicken, remove the lid and brush off as much salt as possible with a wooden spoon. Carefully transfer the parchment package to a large cutting board or rimmed baking sheet. Cut the twine and unwrap the chicken. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken should reach 165 degrees F and the juices should run clear. Allow it to rest, unwrapped, for 15 minutes.
• To carve the chicken, remove the legs and cut each into drumsticks and thighs. Carve out the wings then remove each breast and slice it to your desired thickness. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter. Feel free to pour any accumulated juices over the chicken or serve on the side in a bowl. Serve with the ginger scallion sauce on the side.

SALT-BAKED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Rub inside of chicken cavity with dry vermouth and salt, then place ginger, scallions and anise inside.
• Wrap chicken entirely in cheesecloth, knotting cloth at neck and tail.
• Pour all kosher salt into a wok and heat over medium flame from 30 to 45 minutes, stirring frequently, until salt is quite hot.
• Scoop out a well in the salt, place chicken, breast side down, in well, then cover completely with salt. Cover wok. Bake chicken for 1 to 1 1/4 hours over medium heat. Chicken should be thoroughly cooked in this time, but to make certain, if desired, pierce thigh with fork. If juice runs clear, the chicken is cooked.
• Remove chicken from wok, brush off salt, remove cheesecloth and discard ingredients in chest cavity. Place chicken on chopping block, cut off legs and wings. Then either cut chicken into bite-size pieces with a cleaver or shred meat with fingers into two-inch-long strips.
• Arrange on a serving platter and garnish with coriander. Serve with individual dishes of scallion-ginger sauce.

SALT-BAKED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the salt in a heavy pot with a lid, slightly larger than the chicken. Place the pot, uncovered, over medium heat until the salt is very hot, stirring from time to time, about 30 minutes.
• Scoop most of the salt into a large bowl, leaving a 1 1/2-to-2-inch layer of salt in the bottom of the pot. Place the chicken over the salt layer, breast side up. Spoon the remaining salt over and around the chicken, so that it is completely buried in salt.
• Cover the pot with the lid. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 1/2 hours. Scrape the salt from the chicken and remove from the pot. Wipe off as much of the salt as possible and let stand for 10 minutes. Carve the chicken and serve.