Mesquite Grilled Rosemary Garam Masala Red Wine Chicken (燒烤豆科灌木迷迭香胡荽紅酒鷄, Siu1 Haau1 Dau6 Fo1 Gun3 Muk6 Mai4 Dit6 Hoeng1 Wu4 Seoi1 Hung4 Zau2 Gai1)

I used a basic soy sauce marinade with red wine to grill the whole chicken, together with fresh rosemary and Garam Masala powder. I put the chicken on a “beer can” stand to roast it upright in the barbeque. While I didn’t use a beer can to keep the chicken upright, I have an apparatus that has two rods attached to a pan that keeps the chicken standing while being grilled. The standing chicken is placed in the charcoal grate, without using the grill grate. The barbeque cover can’t be used if the standing chicken is placed on the grill grate in a 22.5 in. (57 cm.) barbeque grill, so that’s why the standing chicken is placed on the charcoal grate with the coals arranged around it in a circle.

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.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 lb.	3 kg.	Whole chicken (雞, gai1)
1 in.	2.5 cm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
½ cup	125 ml.	Fresh rosemary (迷迭香, mai4 dit6 hoeng1)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Garam Masala (胡荽, wu4 seoi1)
½ cup	120 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
½ cup	125 ml.	Red wine (紅酒, hung4 zau2)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 Tbs.	30 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

Equipment

		Garlic press
		Chicken stand (aka “beer can” stand)
22.5 in.	57 cm.	Covered charcoal or gas grill (or larger)

Instructions

Marinated Chicken On Chicken Stand

1. Prepare the whole chicken by removing any remaining yellow skin and excess fat. Ideally all the yellow skin was removed during the vendor’s chicken cleaning process, but some always remains and this will prevent the marinade from penetrating the skin. Use your fingers and rub any remaining yellow skin from the chicken under running cold water.
2. Wash and remove the fresh rosemary from the stalks. 2 Tbs. (30 ml.) dried rosemary can be substituted if fresh is not available.
3. Marinate the chicken in a covered container up to 48 hours, turning the chicken every 24 hours, in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, fresh rosemary, Garam Masala, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, red wine, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking and place onto the chicken stand.



Chicken Stand Placed On Grill Grate


4. 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 mesquite smoking wood (oak or pecan also goes well with this dish) for one hour if desired. I use dry and not soaked wood.
5. If using a charcoal grill, remove the grill grate (the chicken will be placed directly on the charcoal grate) and arrange the lighted coals around the edges of the charcoal grate, leaving enough room to cook the standing chicken in the middle of the charcoal grate. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for indirect cooking. Put the mesquite wood on top of the charcoal coals for smoking.
6. Carefully place the standing chicken onto the charcoal grate grill. Be very careful since the standing chicken is being placed into the middle of a circle of hot coals. Cover the barbeque and let cook for 30-40 minutes. The temperature of your fire and previous experience with your grill will determine the total cooking time for the chicken.
7. Remove the chicken from the grill and allow to rest for 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with steamed rice, Clay Pot Rice (煲仔飯, Bou¹ Zai² Faan⁶), Clay Pot Chinese Sticky Rice (煲仔糯米飯, Bou¹ Zai² No⁶ Mai⁵ Faan⁶), or Chinese Sticky Rice (糯米飯, No⁶ Mai⁵ Faan⁶).

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. Separate the wing, drumstick-thigh, backbone, and breast from the chicken.
2. Cut the backbone into pieces and arrange the pieces on the serving platter.
3. Separate the drumstick from 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 through the breast bone and separate the breast into breast halves.
8. Cut the breast halves into pieces and place the pieces on top of the drumstick-thigh pieces on the serving platter.
9. Repeat the above step for the other breast half.