Simply Roasted Chicken with Jalapeno-Shallots-Garlic Sauce

cover I tried to give this unadorned but deeply flavorful roasted chicken with an Asian touch by using a vibrant sauce of shallots, garlic, jalapeno and soy sauce. The chef Jonathan Waxman created the Italian version at Barbuto, then-Italian restaurant in the West Village, New York City. One important thing I also learned that the magic to this legendary crispy-skinned roast chicken is to baste.

Serve 4

I whole chicken, 4 to 5 pounds or about 1.75 kg – 2.25kg
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper

For the sauce

5 to 6 jalapenos or any long green pepper, minced
3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
2 small shallots minced
3 tablespoons cooking oil
½ teaspoon or to taste cooking salt
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
½ tablespoon caster sugar
1/3 cup water
½ tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 425F°/210C°. Wash the chicken in hot water and dry with paper towels. Coat the chicken with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season the chicken with generous amount of sea salt and fresh black pepper. Dab an earthenware or metal baking dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place the chicken inside it. Roast for 30 minutes.
Then basting it every 7 to 8 minutes. Do the basting for 3 to 4 times. Basting is a culinary technique for moistening the surface of roasting meat, poultry, or other foods with pan drippings, stock, butter, or some other liquid. In addition to contributing moisture, basting adds flavor (as long as the basting liquid is flavorful) to the surface of the meat. What you need to do is gradually pouring the liquid at the bottom of the pan, in which the meat is being cooked, over the chicken, spoon by spoon. You will hear the beautiful ‘cracking’ sound after the hot liquid on the chicken skin. Just to be extremely careful, the oven is very hot. You will want to wear heavy baking gloves.
Rotate the pan during basting to allow for even cooking. Bake the chicken till golden. How long does it take to cook a chicken? Generally, it takes between 10 minutes to 12 minutes per pound. The chicken is done when the juices from the thigh run clear (about 165 F°). A 4 to 5 pounds chicken would need to cook about 50 – 60 minutes in the oven of 425 F°. Move the chicken out of the oven. Let the chicken to sit for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime, you can start make the sauce. Place a sauce pan over low medium fire, add cooking oil and minced shallots and garlic, fry for about 3 minutes till soft, then add into minced jalapeno, add into soy sauce, sugar and salt, cook for another 2 minutes, add water. Place the sauce in a small sauce bowl. Drip into the freshly squeezed lime juice.
Use a knife roughly cut the chicken into big pieces, pour onto 80% of the sauce. Save the rest of 20% to bring it to the dining table for sharing. Ready to serve.