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)!
INGREDIENTS FOR PEKING CHICKEN
- Chicken - For this Chinese roast chicken recipe, I used a whole chicken but you can easily switch it up and use chicken drums or chicken legs as well.
- Soy Sauce - I use both light soy sauce and dark soy sauce for this recipe. The dark syrupy soy sauce gives the chicken its dark color and the light soy sauce gives the chicken it's flavor and saltiness. If you cannot find dark soy sauce, you can omit it but you will lose out on the brown coloring on the skin.
- Sugar - I have used sugar, honey and maple syrup in this recipe and it works well with all of them.
- Ginger - I highly recommend using fresh ginger for this recipe. Ground ginger powder doesn't give it the same flavor and I find it too strong.
- Five Spice - For this recipe, I use Chinese five spice powder.
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Oven Roasted Five Spice Peking Chicken
Joyce's Recipe 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!
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)
Instructions
Preparations
- Lightly dust the inside of the chicken with ½ tsp of five spice powder
- 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
- 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.
- 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)
- 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
- With the leftover marinade, cook it in a small pot over the stop top for 5-10 minutes on low heat.
- 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
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F (177C)
- Once the oven has reached 350F, place the chicken in the oven.
- 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.)
- 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)
- 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.
- Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting it.
- Enjoy! 🙂
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Paul N says
The sauce baste ended up burning after I brushed it on the chicken. The oven was definitely 350, but it felt like the skin was already so crispy that the baste couldn't soak in.
What oil would you use if the chicken drippings weren't enough to do the oil baste?
How thick should the sauce baste be when its ready?
Thank you for the recipe. I will definitely try again
Joyce Lee says
Hi Paul,
When there isn't enough chicken drippings, I like to use a high smoking point oil (I use avocado oil) to brush the skin. Canola and vegetable oil will work too but try to avoid using any oil with a low smoking point, like extra virgin olive oil. A lower smoking point oil will cause the oil to smoke in the oven and possibly burn.
The basting sauce shouldn't be thick. If it turns out too thick, cook it for less time on the stovetop. Some soy sauces are thicker than others, so if you have a thicker soy sauce it will definitely take less time to cook. For my marinade, I use a light soy sauce. (I have added a link for you to reference the thickness and viscosity of the soy sauce I use. It's a thinner soy sauce, the one on the right side.)
https://pupswithchopsticks.com/wp-content/uploads/soy-sauce-name.jpg
Some brands are thick, like the one on the left. If yours is that thick, then cook it it a few minutes less on the stovetop. You just want to mainly warm it up a bit so that the flavors of the aromatics infuse into the soy sauce, and so that the honey can mix into it more easily.
Your oven may also be hotter than mine as well. I find my gas stove has a pretty weak oven, so you may need to adjust your basting time to maybe 15-20 minutes instead of 30 minutes
I hope this helps! I'm sorry that it didn't turn out the first time 🙁
Hope it turns out the second time!
I'm happy you came by to write to me about it! 🙂
Rick Knaub says
Hi . I used a 5 1/2 lb. chicken, that I brined for 20 hrs 2 days before I made this. Amazing. Taste , textures, super juicyness everywhere 😋.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Rick!
I'm so happy you liked it! 😀
Terri says
Going to make this on Lunar New Year! Thank you for the inspiration
Joyce Lee says
Hi Terri!
I hope you had a wonderful Lunar New Year, and I hope you enjoyed it! 🙂
Li says
Do you think this would still cook okay if I spatchkock the chicken instead of keeping it whole? I've cooked successfully with spatchkock but am unsure with this one.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Li!
I haven't tried spatchcocking with this recipe, but I think it would still work.
The only concern I would have is, since we stuff the ginger into the cavity of the chicken, the ginger that has been stuffed inside would give it a nice ginger aroma and flavor to the chicken, as well as a bit of moisture since the ginger would release a bit of 'steam' into the cavity.
That being said, if you are okay with losing a bit of the flavor, it should be fine I think! 🙂 You can also try putting the ginger slices under the spatchcock chicken instead, but something I noticed with spatchcock chicken is that anything I lay under it may burn onto the pan.
If you do decide to spatchcock it, make sure not to cook it for as long. I'm not sure the exact timing, since I haven't tested it this way but if you don't overcook it, it should be just as moist! 🙂
Thanks for bringing this up! I definitely want to try spatchcocking the chicken for this recipe, but I just never seem to remember to.
Let me know how it turns out or if you have any questions! 🙂
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Elaine says
This is the exact same recipe and picture as https://omnivorescookbook.com/peking-chicken/comment-page-1/?unapproved=238413&moderation-hash=6b6d69cee428ab5f4c9d7bca7f3336ae#comment-238413.
One of you has copied the other
Joyce Lee says
Hi Elaine,
Yes, it is the same recipe because she is featuring my recipe on her site to share with her readers. Maggie (the owner of Omnivore's Cookbook) and I are friends. 🙂
E.F. says
Delicious. Made this with chicken thighs and only a 30-min marinade. Glorious.
Anonymous says
Becca says
Will it work better or worse if I spatchcock the chicken?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Becca!
I have never tried spatchcocking the chicken for this recipe but I think it would definitely work!
You'll need to cook it for less time though, since it will cook more quickly! 🙂
I hope you enjoy it!