Grilled Soy Sauce Chicken (燒烤豉油雞, Siu1 Haau1 Si6 Jau4 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 16 Aug 2015. Some instructions and equipment were changed.

I used a basic soy sauce marinade for a grilled whole chicken. I cut the chicken in half before grilling and removed the backbone (which I grilled with the rest of the chicken) to decrease the cooking time over a whole chicken. You don’t have to use a whole chicken as the technique used in this recipe will work equally as well with chicken parts (drumsticks, thighs, breast…). Adding a smoking wood to the grill, such as oak, hickory, mesquite, pecan, further enhances the flavor. Both direct and indirect cooking on the grill is used for this recipe. I used the cool side of a covered grill for indirect heat to cook the chicken for 15 minutes, and then move the chicken, skin side down, to the hot side of a covered grill to crisp the skin for 3-5 minutes before flipping the chicken over and repeating the process. Depending upon your grill, your previous experience, and the amount of grill heat remaining, the direct heat cooking time may have to be increased or decreased.

You can look at the Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe for instructions on cutting and arranging a chicken on a platter. You can adapt the cutting method to account for the chicken already being halved without a backbone.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 lb.	3 kg.	Whole chicken (雞, gai1), halved with backbone removed
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
½ cup	120 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Gin (金酒, gam1 zau2) - optional
½ cup	120 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	15 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

 

Equipment

		Chinese cleaver, sharp knife, or poultry shears
		Garlic press
		Tongs and an oil coated paper towel
22.5 in.	57 cm.	Covered charcoal or gas grill (or larger)

 

Grill Arrangement

Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken by removing backbone using a Chinese cleaver, sharp knife, or poultry shears. Place the chicken skin side down on the cutting board and cut the breast bone, producing two halves of the chicken.
2. Marinate the chicken in a covered container for at least four hours or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, gin (optional), Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, 

   

   Cutting and Arranging Step 1

   ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the chicken overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Prepare the charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking following the manufacturer’s instructions. Light the charcoal or preheat the gas grill accordingly. Soak the wood for smoking (oak, hickory, mesquite, or pecan goes well with this dish) for one hour if desired. I use dry and not soaked wood.
4. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the lighted coals on one half of the grill. The side of the grill with 

   

   Cutting and Arranging Chicken Halves

   the coals (the “hot” side) will later be used to grill the chicken and the side without the coals (the “cool” side) will be used for smoking the chicken. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for indirect cooking. Clean the grill to remove any leftover charred bits from the last use and with a folded paper towel coated in oil, use tongs to oil the grill. Put the smoking wood onto the coals or as per the instructions for the gas grill.
5. Place the chicken halves and backbone, skin side up, on the cool side of the 

   

   Cutting and Arranging Step 2

   grill and cook for 15 minutes covered. Take the cover off and move the chicken, skin side down, to the hot side of the grill, and cook for 3-5 minutes covered. Uncover the grill and turn the chicken over (now skin side up), and repeat the covered direct heat cooking for another 3-5 minutes. Depending upon your grill and the amount of grill heat remaining, the direct heat cooking time may have to be increased or decreased. Remove the chicken from the grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes before 

   

   Cutting and Arranging Steps 7-8

   cutting.




Cutting and Arranging Instructions



 

See the Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe for detailed instructions on cutting and arranging a chicken on a platter. The following is an outline of the procedure to cut and arrange the chicken on the serving platter.

1. Cut the backbone into pieces and place the cut pieces onto the serving platter.
2. Separate the wing, drumstick-thigh, and breast from each chicken half.
3. Separate the drumstick from the thigh and cut into pieces. Put the cut pieces onto the serving platter.
4. Repeat the above step for the other drumstick-thigh.
5. Separate the wing into pieces and put the cut pieces onto the serving platter.
6. Repeat the above step for the other wing.
7. Cut the breast into pieces and place the pieces on top of the drumstick-thigh pieces on the serving platter.
8. Repeat the above step for the other breast.