Easy Salt-Baked Chicken

To make salt-baked chicken, or yim guk gai in Cantonese, a whole chicken is marinated, wrapped in a parcel, placed in a wok or ceramic pot that is then filled with heated salt, and roasted. The purpose of the salt is not to flavor the chicken, but rather to transfer the heat evenly to the chicken, cooking it gently and resulting in silky, juicy meat. While the traditional method is great, we also like adapting old-school recipes so they are easier to make—in this case, replicating the flavor of a traditional salt-baked chicken without having to deal with a few pounds of sea salt. This easy version is well seasoned with the requisite sand ginger, Shaoxing wine, and just a few teaspoons of salt before it’s baked to juicy perfection.

This recipe was excerpted from 'The Woks of Life' by Bill Leung, Kaitlin Leung, Judy Leung, and Sarah Leung. Buy the full book on Amazon. Get more of our favorite Chinese chicken recipes →