Air Fryer Chinese Roast Chicken
Chinese Roast Chicken is a homecooked version of the distinctive Cantonese-style barbecued meats. This Air Fryer roasted chicken has crispy skin, superb juiciness, and moist and tender meat.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 40 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 1.3 kg whole chicken
- 1 tbsp medium dry sherry
- 2 medium Lebanese cucumber (sliced lengthwise)
- Steamed rice to serve (for paleo diet, serve with cauliflower rice)
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 2 tbsp medium dry sherry
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground Sichuan peppercorn
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 5 long fresh red chillies (deseeded and cut into 1 inch lengthwise)
- 3 small fresh red chillies (deseeded (optional))
- 3 garlic cloves (peeled)
- 1 large brown onion (peeled and cut into wedges)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 1 tbsp lime juice
Instructions
- 1
Sift the ground Sichuan peppercorn through a fine sieve to remove the husks.
- 2
Using a skillet or frypan, toast the ground Sichuan peppercorn together with the salt for 2 to 3 minutes or until fragrant. Cool and set aside. You can also toast in the oven.
- 3
Put the extra virgin olive oil, red chillies, garlic and onion into the food processor and blend until you get a smooth paste.
- 4
Remove from the food processor and put the paste into a frypan, stir-fry briefly for 3 minutes on medium low heat.
- 5
Then, add the coconut aminos, salt, maple syrup, lime zest, and lime juice, stir and mix well. Turn off the heat. Set aside.
- 6
Wash and pat dry the chicken thoroughly with a kitchen paper towel, including the cavity.
- 7
Add all the chicken marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl, mix and combine well.
- 8
Marinate the whole chicken skin by covering and rubbing with the marinate prepared in step 2.
- 9
Apply the chicken cavity marinade evenly.
- 10
Position a tall glass upside down on a plate. Place the chicken on top of the glass vertically. You can also use a clean tin can or bottle.
- 11
Gently separate the chicken breast skin from the meat with your fingers. Take care not to tear the skin. This step helps render the fats to dribble off from the skin, causing the skin to dry and crisp up during air frying or roasting.
- 12
Refrigerate the chicken uncovered in an upright position overnight until the chicken skin is entirely dry.
- 13
Remove chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
- 14
Preheat the air fryer including the basket to 150C or 300F.
- 15
Place the whole chicken breast side up into the air fryer basket. Air fry the chicken for 20 minutes.
- 16
Turn the chicken over thigh side up and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.
- 17
Let the chicken cool for 5 minutes before cutting into pieces.
- 18
Serve chicken with Sichuan peppercorn salt, chilli sauce, cucumber, and steamed rice (for paleo diet, serve with cauliflower rice).