Salted 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.

SAUTEED CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Wash and trim chicken breasts.
• Heat oil and butter in frying pan.
• Brown chicken on both sides.
• Remove from pan.
• Add thyme, salt, pepper and onion to pan and cook about 2 minutes.
• Add broth and mix well.
• Return chicken to pan and cook covered for 15 minutes or until done.
• Remove chicken to serving plate, keep warm.
• Add the minced garlic and reduce the sauce by one half.
• Add red pepper flakes and pour over chicken or pour into smaller dipping bowls.

FULLY SALTED ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Pat dry chicken with paper towels. Holding a 5-finger pinch of salt and positioning your hand at least 10" above chicken, evenly rain salt down over chicken. Repeat with several more pinches of salt until both inside and outside of chicken are covered with salt (be generous and make sure to get inside all the nooks and crannies). Place chicken on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and chill uncovered at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
• Let sit at room temperature 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Roast chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of chicken thigh registers 165°F, 40-55 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest 15 minutes before carving.

HOMEMADE SALTED EGGS RECIPE

Steps:

• Method: Rinse the eggs and drain well. Set aside. Put water and salt in a saucepan. Add star anise and Szechwan peppercorns. Bring it to a boil. Once the salt completely dissolves, turn off the heat. Let cool completely. Pour in the wine and stir well. Use a clean glass container, carefully arrange the eggs in the container. (Note: check every egg to make sure there are no cracks on it.) Pour salted water into the container and cover the eggs. You'll notice some eggs above would float to the surface, so place something, like a little sauce plate on top of the eggs. The basic idea is to get all eggs submerse completely in the brine. Tightly cover the container and place at room temperature. The brining process normally takes 30 to 40 days. Label the start and finish dates on the container to remind yourself. (I used google calendar to set an email alert to myself.) After 30 days, take one egg out to cook and see if its taste is salty enough. If not, let the rest to brine for a few days more. If you're satisfied, drain all eggs out and wipe dry. Keep them in an egg carton and place in fridge. The salted eggs can be kept for a few weeks in fridge.

JAPANESE SALTED CHICKEN WINGS

Steps:

• Combine chicken wings, sake, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, dashi, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to marinate, at least 1 hour.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place cornstarch in a shallow bowl. Dip marinated chicken wings in cornstarch and coat both sides.
• Fry chicken wings until crispy brown and crunchy on the outside and no longer pink at the bone, 10 to 15 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt and black pepper before serving.

SALTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 C or 400 degrees F.
• Put all the salt into a bowl with the fennel seeds, eggs, lemon juice (save the juiced lemon skins), peppercorns and a wineglass of water and mix together.
• Crush the thyme in a pestle and mortar and add a couple good glugs of olive oil.
• Rub this flavoured oil all over your chicken, pushing any extra inside the cavity along with the parsley, garlic and squeezed lemon halves.
• You want the cavity so full that no salt will be able to get in.
• Get four long pieces of tinfoil and put them on top of each other to make a sheet around a metre square.
• Lay on a third of the salt, spreading until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
• Put your chicken on top, then pack the rest of the salt around it, making sure not to pierce the skin.
• Carefully fold up the sides of the tinfoil and scrunch it at the top.
• You can rip off any extra tinfoil.
• Place the chicken in the preheated oven and cook for two hours.
• Remove and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
• Take it to the table, rip open the tinfoil and crack the salt crust.
• It will fall apart easily and you will have a juicy chicken ready to serve.
• A nice side dish is some horseradish, mixed with creme fraiche or some homemade mayonnaise and basil.

SALTED BUTTERMILK FRIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Fill a medium heavy-bottomed pot halfway with oil. Heat until a deep-fat thermometer reaches 340 degrees.
• Meanwhile, stir together buttermilk, eggs, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together flour, coarse salt, and cayenne in another bowl. Working in batches, dip each chicken piece into buttermilk mixture, coating completely (do not shake off any excess). Dredge in flour mixture, patting onto chicken to coat completely. Transfer to a plate.
• Working in batches (do not crowd pot), carefully place chicken in oil, and fry until deep golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes for wings, 9 to 10 minutes for other pieces. (While chicken is cooking, adjust heat as needed to maintain an oil temperature of 325 degrees. Return oil to 340 degrees before starting each new batch.)
• Transfer fried chicken to a paper-towel-lined plate using a slotted spoon; sprinkle with flaky salt. Serve warm or at room temperature.