Oven Roasted Five Spice Peking Chicken

This Chinese roast chicken recipe is a cross between a roasted chicken & Peking duck, this Peking chicken recipe is for days when you have that craving for a Peking duck, but chicken is all you have to work with

Chicken, love it to pieces! It's easy to find, reasonably priced and takes on the flavors you marinate it in and in this case, it's soy sauce and five spice!

This Peking chicken is super easy to make and just requires a bit of extra time for it to be marinated. Once it has marinated, you can stick it in the oven and voila you have a flavorful and aromatic Peking chicken, your house will smell amazing and it is absolutely delicious with a side of steamed rice or garlic fried rice (sinangag)!

GINGER SCALLION SAUCE (Pairs Wonderfully with Peking Chicken)

This sauce is essentially 4 ingredients (salt, oil, green onions, and ginger) and it packs a lot of flavors. To use it, you would spread the green onion and ginger over the chicken and then eat it! I find it goes amazing mixed in with white rice as well.

You can find detailed instructions on how to make it and what to use this sauce on here: Ginger Scallion Sauce.

4 SIMPLE STEPS TO THE PERFECT PEKING CHICKEN

1. Marinate. Dust ½ teaspoon of five spice inside the cavity of the chicken, then combine all the marinating ingredients into a ziplock or a large bowl with the chicken. You want to marinate the chicken for a minimum of 4 hours, preferably overnight.
2. Cook the Chicken.
   • Remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. Stuff the ginger slices that you used for marinating into the chicken.
   • Pre-heat the oven, and put the chicken in when it has come up to temperature. I highly suggest using a rack so that there is proper airflow under the chicken to allow it to crisp up a bit. If you don't have a rack, you can crunch up foil into little balls and rest the chicken on top of it.
3. Create the Basting Sauce. Cook the remaining marinade over the stovetop and add honey or maple syrup at the very end to sweeten and slightly thicken it.
4. Basting. This is where the magic begins. In the first 20 minutes of the roasting, the chicken will release its oil from the skin. Use a brush and baste the chicken with the drippings for the first hour every 20 mins. (If your chicken doesn't have oil drippings, you can use a tablespoon of oil and baste it with that.) After the hour mark, baste the chicken with the basting sauce every 10 minutes, approximately 2-3 times or until the marinade is finished.

HOW DO YOU KNOW THE CHICKEN IS DONE?

Cooking time will always be different and vary for everyone depending on how the oven temperatures are and big the chicken is.

I highly recommend a digital meat thermometer to take the guessing game out of how long to cook meat. Insert the digital thermometer at the thickest part of the chicken, which is usually the thigh.

When I first started using the digital thermometer for chicken, I had a very hard time finding the right spot and I would always insert it between the drums and the thigh which is just...skin! doh! You want to make sure it is inserted into the meat - not the gap between the drum and the thigh. 🙂

I took it out of the oven when it reached 165F (74C). For me, it took about 1 hour and 30 minutes to reach that temperature at 350F (177C).

Let the chicken sit for an additional 10-15 minutes before carving into it to allow the juices to redistribute into the meat, and so you don't burn your fingers. 🙂

The Kitchn has a great read on 'Chicken Still Pink After Cooking? Don't Panic' that explains the safety of the doneness of the chicken. 

LOOKING FOR OTHER OVEN ROASTED MEAT RECIPES? TRY THESE!

• Sweet and Sticky Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
• Herb Roasted Turkey Legs
• Coffee Rub Roasted Turkey Thighs
• Sweet & Sticky Coca Cola Ribs
• Switch Up Your Sunday Dinner Traditions With These 17 Incredibly Delicious Roasts

NEED A STUFFED ROASTED CHICKEN INSTEAD?

If you are craving a stuffed roasted chicken instead, head on over to The Hungry Bites and try out his 'Greek Whole Stuffed Chicken with Rice and Chestnuts' recipe!

DID YOU MAKE THIS PEKING CHICKEN?

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Recipe Card

Joyce Lee

Oven Roasted Five Spice Peking Chicken

4.89 from 52 votes

This oven-roasted Peking chicken recipe is a cross between a roasted chicken & a Peking duck. For days when you're craving Peking duck but only have chicken!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Servings: 4 Servings

Course: Main

Cuisine: Chinese

Calories: 1197

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 whole chicken
• ½ teaspoon five-spice powder (for dusting the cavity)

Marinade

• ¼ cup light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (for the dark brown color)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5-6 slices ginger
• 1 teaspoon five-spice powder

For Basting Sauce

• Leftover marinade (cooked)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)

Method

 

Preparations

1. Lightly dust the inside of the chicken with ½ tsp of five spice powder
2. In a large bowl or ziploc bag, combine the marinade and coat the chicken in it. Marinate for a minimum of 4 hours. (Preferably overnight)

Prepping the Chicken

1. Remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking it and stuff the chicken with the ginger that it was in the marinade.
2. Set up a tray with a rack and set the chicken on it. (If you don't have a rack, you can crunch up foil balls and set the chicken on it, you need airflow to roast the chicken optimally)
3. If you are using an external digital thermometer, insert it into the thickest part of the chicken, usually into the thigh without touching the bone. (Not between the drums and the thigh, but the thigh itself)

Making the Basting Sauce

1. With the leftover marinade, cook it in a small pot over the stop top for 5-10 minutes on low heat.
2. Add in 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey at the end to sweeten and thicken it. Set this aside for basting at the end.

Roasting the Chicken

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F (177C)
2. Once the oven has reached 350F, place the chicken in the oven.
3. After 20 minutes, you should see oil drippings. Baste the chicken with the oil every 20 minutes for an hour. (If you don't get any oil drippings, you can use 1-2 tablespoon of oil and brush it on instead.)
4. Once the chicken has cooked in the oven for an hour, start basting it with the basting sauce every 10-15 minutes or until the marinade is used up. (approximately 30 minutes)
5. Remove chicken when the temperature hits 165F(74C), which is about 1 hour and 30 minutes of cooking. This may vary depending on the size of the chicken and the stove settings.
6. Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting it.
7. Enjoy! 🙂

Notes

• This chicken pairs amazingly with Ginger Scallion Sauce
• If you have leftover chicken, white rice and ginger scallion sauce the next day, throw it all together in a frying pan with an egg and a bit of soy sauce for a Peking chicken fried rice!

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