Salt Baked Chicken
A chicken buried in three kilos of hot coarse salt and baked until it is cooked through by conducted heat alone. Hakka, and the salt is reusable.
Photograph credit: Salt-Baked Chicken Rice - Hakka Teahouse, Glen Waverley AUD9 lunch special by avlxyz · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Flickr · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
The chicken is wrapped in paper before it goes into the salt, so almost none of the salt actually reaches the meat — the salt is a heat medium, not a seasoning, and an unwrapped bird comes out inedible. Heat the salt in the empty pot until it is genuinely hot and moving freely before the chicken goes in, because cold salt takes far too long to come up and the bird stews. And the meat is torn by hand rather than carved, which is how it is served in Hakka restaurants and does keep it juicier.
What People Ask
How long does Salt Baked Chicken take to make?
30 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking, plus 2 hours 15 minutes of drying the skin uncovered in the fridge, so allow 4 hours 15 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
Salt Baked Chicken: Step by Step
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Rub the chicken inside and out with the wine, salt, chicken powder and white pepper, and push the ginger and spring onions into the cavity.
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Leave it uncovered in the fridge 2 hours to dry the skin.
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Wrap the chicken tightly in two layers of baking paper, tucking the ends under so no salt can get in.
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Heat the rock salt in a large dry casserole over high heat 15 minutes, stirring, until it is very hot and pours freely.
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Scoop out two thirds of the salt, set the wrapped chicken in the pot, and bury it completely with the salt you removed.
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Cover and bake at 200°C / 390°F fan / 220°C / 430°F / gas 7 for 75 minutes.
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Lift the parcel out, brush the salt off and let it rest 15 minutes before unwrapping.
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Mix the chopped ginger, spring onion and salt in a bowl and pour the smoking oil over.
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Tear the chicken into pieces by hand and serve with the sauce.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Getting Right
- Wrap it properly. The salt is heat, not seasoning.
- Heat the salt until it pours freely before the chicken goes in.
- Tear it by hand. It stays juicier than carving.
Swaps and Variations
- Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
- If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
What to Serve With It
Steamed rice · Ginger scallion oil · Blanched greens
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Bok Choy with Garlic, Cabbage Stir Fry with Garlic, Chinese Steamed Eggs.
Leftovers and Storage
Refrigerated for 3 days. The salt can be cooled, sieved and reused several times.
Salt Baked Chicken Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 1 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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