← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.5 kg)
• 120 ml Soy sauce
• 3 tbsp calamansi or lime juice
• 1 tbsp Brown sugar
• 6 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Lemongrass, bruised and knotted
• 3 Bay leaves
• 1 Red onion, quartered
• 3 cm piece Ginger, sliced
• 4 Spring onion
• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil

Method

1. Mix the soy sauce, calamansi juice, sugar, garlic, pepper and salt. Put the chicken in a large bag or bowl, pour over the marinade and rub it in, including inside the cavity. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight, turning once or twice.
2. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Lift the chicken out of the marinade and pat the skin dry. Stuff the cavity with the lemongrass, bay, onion, ginger and spring onions and tie the legs together.
3. Pour the leftover marinade into a small pan and boil it for 2 min; you will use it for basting.
4. Set the chicken breast-up on a rack over a roasting tin with a little water in the bottom, brush with oil and roast for 1 hour.
5. Brush with the boiled marinade and roast for 10–20 min more, until the skin is deep mahogany and the thickest part of the thigh reaches 75°C (165°F). Cover loosely with foil if it darkens too fast.
6. Rest for 10 min before carving. Serve with rice, atchara and a soy-calamansi-chilli dip or lechon sauce.

Tips

• A spoonful of lemon-lime soda in the marinade, as many Manila stalls use, adds sweetness and helps the skin colour.
• Soy sauce contains wheat; use tamari for a gluten-free roast.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Panlasang Pinoy Foxy Folksy Kawaling Pinoy