Description
A wild dish representing Taiwanese mountain/hot spring towns, where a whole chicken rubbed with special spices is placed in a giant ceramic jar (Weng) and slow-roasted over a wood fire.
Restaurants serving Barrel Roasted Chicken
Researching
We are researching restaurants that serve this dish.
On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Whole chicken(free-range is best)
- Garlic
- Soy sauce
- Five-spice powder
- Salt
- White pepper
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- [Chicken Prep] Prepare a whole free-range chicken (Fangshan Ji: highly active, firm meat), gutted.
- Firmly rub a special sauce of garlic, soy sauce, salt, white pepper, five-spice, and Taiwanese spices inside and outside, marinating for hours.
- [Barrel Roasting] Build a wood fire (aromatic Longan wood is best) inside a giant human-sized ceramic 'Weng' (jar).
- Hook the whole chicken and hang it inside the Weng.
- Place a vessel (containing bamboo shoots/mushrooms) at the bottom to catch dripping 'chicken oil (Ji You) and juices'.
- Cover and roast with ultra-high far-infrared heat for
- mins to
- hr until the skin is crispy amber.
- Customers boldly dismantle the piping hot chicken themselves wearing work and vinyl gloves, dipping it in the 'supreme chicken oil' pooled at the bottom.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Wood smoke aroma、Five-spice、Garlic
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Oven-roasted chicken (lacks wood aroma)
Pairing
Cold Taiwan Beer or Bamboo Tube Sticky Rice
Trivia
[For Everyone] Driving Taiwanese suburbs (mountain roads), you invariably encounter areas lined with restaurants smoking from giant jars (Weng Zai Ji streets). A metal drum version called 'Tong Zai Ji' also exists. The fun of dismantling and the delicious skin infused with wood aroma make the best group travel memories.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Along with the crispy skin, slather the juicy breast meat in 'chicken oil' and 'special pepper salt', biting into it as if regaining your wild side!
Allergen
Chicken, Soy, Wheat (from soy sauce)