Five-Spice Roast Chicken 五香烤鸡

要怎样料理一整只鸡呢? 对我来说最简单的方法莫过于烤鸡。只要把鸡腌好接下来就是烤箱的工作了。

试过做比较西式口味的烤鸡，但发现家人最爱的还是中式口味，就好比这个五香口味，这是最安全也是家里每个人都喜欢的口味。我没有下很多五香粉所以吃起来是淡淡的五香味。

Butterfly chicken

把鸡开边（英文术语叫“butterfly”) 鸡比较容易烤熟也烤得比较均匀，通常我都是让鸡贩帮忙，这是我第一次尝试自己来，原来比想像中容易。只需一把剪刀，沿着鸡背突起的两边剪开就行了。剪出来的部分要一起烤也行，我通常都是收起来煲汤用。

刚出炉时烤鸡的皮是非常脆的，冷却后会变软但口感还是不错的因为鸡皮被烤得很薄。

像这样的料理一点也不难，也不需费时准备，如果害怕下厨很麻烦不妨考虑为家人制作这道烤鸡，我敢肯定一家大小都会吃得很开心。

五香烤鸡

材料：
全鸡 1只（净重 +/-1.2公斤)(开边)
蒜头 3瓣（盅烂）
橄榄油 1 ½ 汤匙（也可用其他食油）
五香粉 1茶匙
盐 1 ½ 茶匙

做法：
1）混合蒜头，油和五香粉成为膏状。
2）鸡洗净用厨房纸巾抹干。把步骤（1）的腌料涂抹在鸡皮底下和鸡内侧（鸡壳）。如还剩下腌料可以涂少许在鸡皮，不能涂太多不然鸡皮易烤焦。
3）把盐均匀的撒在整只鸡上，腌至少1小时。
4）把鸡摊平放在已铺上锡箔纸的烤盘上。在已预热烤箱内220C，中上层烤约45分钟。要知道鸡是否熟透，用一支筷子插入鸡腿肉最厚的部分，如无血水流出即代表鸡已烤熟。

注：
1）烘烤前30分钟到1小时前把鸡从冰箱里取出回温。
2）我用的鸡净重（去除头，脚，肥油）是1130克，请根据鸡只的大小调整腌料的份量和烘烤时间。

This is a very simply chicken dish that you can prepare for your family in less than 10 minutes time, the rest of work you can just leave it to the oven.

Five-Spice Roast Chicken

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (+/- 1.2kg) (“butterfly”)
3 cloves garlic (pounded and minced)
1 ½ tbsp olive oil (or other cooking oil)
1 tsp five-spice powder
1 ½ tsp salt

Method:
1) Mix garlic, oil and five-spice powder into paste form.
2) Pat the chicken dry with paper towel. Gently separate the skin and rub mixture in (1) under the skin and inner part of chicken (bone). If there is leftover marinade just rub on the skin but not too much because the skin will turn dark very fast.
3) Sprinkle salt all over the chicken. Marinate for at least one hour.
4) Place the chicken flat on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated oven at 220C on middle upper rack for about 45 mins. To test if the chicken is cooked simply insert a chopstick in the drumstick, if there is no blood water coming out the chicken is fully cooked.

Note:
1) Thaw the chicken in room temperature 30 mins to 1 hour before baking time.
2) The net weight (after removing head，feet and excess fat) of the chicken I used is about 1130g. Adjust the amount of seasoning and baking time depending on the size of your chicken.

(Recipe source: Trial and error by Angel of Cook.Bake.Love)