The older generations would make this tasty dish in their villages, using home made ovens to bake the chicken coated in sea salt. The salt acts as a thermal clay pot surrounding the chicken and providing its succulent meat without making it taste salty.

Serves:  4

Prep Time:  10 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

800-900 grams coarse rock salt

Dipping Sauce

8 grams ginger

2 cloves garlic

1 sprig spring onion

3-4 tablespoons groundnut oil

Method

Wash chicken, pat dry. Place chicken into an oven dish or a clay pot.

Pour coarse salt to completely cover the chicken.

Place a lid on and oven the chicken at gas mark 6 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes.

Brush off any salt still attached to the chicken.

In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and ginger.

Cut spring onions into scallions. Place all into a dipping bowl.

Heat the oil in a pan. Once hot, drizzle over the dipping ingredients. 

Winse Chan is a rising chef from Scotland, a food enthusiast and soon to be author of a cookbook that she is currently working on about classic and authentic Chinese recipes, passed down from generations, inherited from the women who have influenced her cooking skills.