Salt Baked Chicken

Salt Baked Chicken

A Hakka classic - a whole chicken cooked inside a bed of hot salt, resulting in exceptionally moist, deeply seasoned meat.

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Course: Main

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: Chicken, Hakka, Roasted

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 412kcal

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken about 1.5kg
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 thumb fresh ginger sliced
• 3 scallions
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 3 kg coarse sea salt
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick

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Instructions

• Rub the chicken inside and out with Shaoxing wine and white pepper. Stuff the cavity with ginger and scallions. Let sit 20 minutes.
• Wrap the chicken tightly in parchment paper, then in a layer of foil.
• Heat the coarse salt with star anise and cinnamon in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until very hot, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
• Bury the wrapped chicken in the hot salt, cover the pot, and cook over low heat for 55-60 minutes.
• Carefully remove the chicken from the salt, unwrap, and rest 10 minutes before carving.

Notes

Chef's Tip: Wrapping the chicken tightly is essential - it protects the meat from the salt while still letting the heat penetrate for that signature moist texture. Keto Swaps: none needed - salt-baked chicken is naturally keto as written.

Nutrition

Calories: 412kcal | Protein: 38g | Fat: 26g

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About This Dish

This Hakka classic uses hot salt as the cooking medium itself — the chicken steams gently inside its wrapping, buried in the heat, coming out exceptionally moist.

Nothing needs swapping here; salt-baked chicken is naturally keto as written.