Chinese Roast Chicken

Directions

Toasting the Sichuan peppercorn salt

1. Sift the ground Sichuan peppercorn through a fine sieve to remove the husks.
2. Using a skillet or frypan, toast the ground Sichuan peppercorn together with the salt for 2 to 3 minutes or until fragrant. Cool and set aside. You can also toast in the oven.

For the cooking, the chili dipping sauce

1. Put the extra virgin olive oil, red chillis, garlic and onion into the food processor and blend until you get a smooth paste.
2. Remove from the food processor and put the paste into a frypan, stir-fry briefly for 3 minutes on medium low heat.
3. Then, add the light soy sauce, salt, maple syrup, lime zest, and lime juice, stir and mix well. Turn off the heat. Set it aside.

Preparing and marinating the chicken

1. Wash and pat dry the chicken thoroughly with a kitchen paper towel, including the cavity.
2. Add all the chicken marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl, mix and combine well.
3. Marinate the whole chicken skin by covering and rubbing with the marinate prepared in step 2.
4. Apply the chicken cavity marinade evenly.
5. Position a tall glass upside down on a plate. Place the chicken on top of the glass vertically. You can also use a clean tin can or bottle.
6. Gently separate the chicken breast skin from the meat with your fingers. Take care not to tear the skin. This step helps render the fats to dribble off from the skin, causing the skin to dry and crisp up during air frying or roasting.
7. Refrigerate the chicken uncovered in an upright position overnight until the chicken skin is entirely dry.

Cooking the chicken

1. Remove chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
2. Place the whole chicken breast side up into the Double Stack Air Fryer basket. Air fry the chicken for 20 minutes at 150°C
3. Turn the chicken over thigh side up and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Let the chicken cool for 5 minutes before cutting it into pieces.
5. Serve chicken with Sichuan peppercorn salt, chili sauce, cucumber, and steamed rice (for paleo diet, serve with cauliflower rice).