Baby Chicken with Soy-Whiskey Glaze & Sticky Rice Stuffing
I was completely and utterly torn between two recipes, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s chicken with a soy-whiskey glaze and Mochachocolata aka Rita incredibly delicious-looking chicken with a sticky rice stuffing. Plus, i was hungry. Very hungry. So i thought, heck… let’s combine both recipes, shake really hard and see what comes out of it. Being ordered around by two persons at the same time ain’t easy, let me tell you, but the results were well worth the effort.
I started by slicing some really good Chinese sausage (smuggled from Hong-Kong, nothing less), shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, garlic and ginger and gave them a good stir-fry before adding the sticky rice, per Rita’s instructions i deglazed the pan with dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce and added chicken stock and left it to cook until it got all nice and sticky and delicious. Meanwhile Jean-Georges’s recipe instructed me to put the baby chickens in a quick 30-min brine. So i did that too! Went back to check if the sticky rice was good and boy… Rita didn’t let me down, it was amazing. I let it cool and made Jean-Georges’s soy-whiskey glaze and moved along to next step of Rita’s instructions:
“Stuff the chicken’s ass with the sticky rice.”
Umm.. Well, after removing the chickens from the brine and drying them.. i did exactly that. I never took chicken anatomy class in school but i think i got it right.
Next was a lot of roasting and basting business with the fabulous soy-whiskey glaze until the baby chickens got that glorious, deep brown shine to them. After enjoying a brief moment of pride, it was time for dinner.
Friends, it’s as good as it looks. If not better.
Thanks again to my two mentors for largely inspiring this recipe. I’ll definitely be making it again.
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Baby Chicken with Soy-Whiskey Glaze & Sticky Rice Stuffing
- serves 2-3
- Inspired/Adapted from Mochachocolata Rita & Jean-Georges Vongerichten
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Baby Chicken w/ Soy-Whiskey Glaze:
- 2 baby chickens
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup chopped ginger
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup whiskey
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- canola oil, for brushing
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For the Sticky Rice Stuffing:
- 2 Chinese sausages, sliced
- 1 cup dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in water
- 1 cup chestnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
- 1 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 Tbs canola oil
- 3 Tbs dark soy sauce
- 2 Tbs soy sauce
- 2 cups sticky rice
- 2 cups chicken stock
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For the baby chicken w/ soy-whiskey glaze:
- Combine the 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large container with 4 cups of cold water to dissolve. Add the baby chickens and soak for 30 min at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 375′F. Drain the chickens and pat dry. Season the bird’s cavity with salt and pepper, stuff with the cooled sticky rice stuffing and truss it or at least tie up the legs. Combine the remaining ginger with the soy sauce, whiskey, the remaining 1 cup of sugar, and the garlic in a saucepan and bring to boil.
- Put the baby chickens on their back, baste them with the soy-whiskey mixture, and put pan in the oven.
- Roast for 45min, basting every 10 minutes with the soy glaze, until dark brown. A thermometer inserted into its thigh should read 155′F. Remove the bird from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve with pan juices.
- Soak the sticky rice and the dry shiitake in water ahead of time. Reserve some of the mushroom soaking liquid to cook the rice.
- In a large pan, add canola oil and stir-fry the Chinese sausage slices, shiitake mushroom slices and chestnuts. Add the chopped garlic and ginger and keep stirring until fragrant.
- Add the drained sticky rice to the mixture and deglaze with dark soy sauce and regular soy sauce. Add the chicken stock and 1/2 cup mushroom liquid and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed.
- Let it cool until ready to use.
For the sticky rice stuffing:
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March 31st, 2010 at 10:23 pm
The chicken looks gorgeous, all shiny like that!
March 31st, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Only you could make a chicken look this spectacular! Incredible photos as always!
March 31st, 2010 at 11:06 pm
oh how perfect! little chickens for Easter! your stuffed chicks have an amazing glaze on them! yum!
March 31st, 2010 at 11:52 pm
Damn that glaze is the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen
April 1st, 2010 at 12:46 am
It’s hard to make brown food look so good. Your Japanese knife looks amazing, too.
April 1st, 2010 at 2:07 am
My gosh, the glaze makes the chicken look almost unreal. Fantastic!
April 1st, 2010 at 4:40 am
OMG!!!!! I am so honored I could bawl like a baby (at work, no less ;p). They look so damn good, I especially love the overstuffed ass
My lil’ gweilo #2, I’m so proud of you!
PS. Do you still have some Chinese sausages? Have you been gnawing on them?
April 1st, 2010 at 6:33 am
The glaze on the chicky chick is exceptional! Shiny glory. You shine too
April 1st, 2010 at 7:28 am
Quite simply, a work of delicious art.
Steve
http://www.myfavoriteflavours.com
April 1st, 2010 at 9:20 am
Hey, I’ve hit the jackpot!! My guess was right! I love your version, too!! Looks so damn good!! I wanna lick the screen now! Hahahaha …!
April 1st, 2010 at 9:56 am
What amazing, beautiful creation! They look like little lacquered objects of art.
April 1st, 2010 at 9:56 am
Looks perfect! gonna try this one next
April 1st, 2010 at 10:11 am
Haha. I love how you quoted Rita.
April 1st, 2010 at 10:43 am
hahahaha–well, that looks fantastic, ass and all
I love the look of that glaze–sounds really tasty.
April 1st, 2010 at 11:27 am
You had me at “soy-whiskey glaze”! But to add sticky rice on top of that? Oh my, I am in love!
April 1st, 2010 at 12:19 pm
This is why i want Jean-George’s cookbook. Not that mine will be as successful, as beautiful and as creative as yours! Stunning! I’m hungry now.
April 1st, 2010 at 1:13 pm
WOW. Gorgeous photos, I’m drooling!
April 1st, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Funny, I didn’t have you down as an ass man.
Chicken ass I mean.
April 1st, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Wow those looked like they had been sprayed tanned! They look great and the sticky rice recipe sounds so good. I love Chinese sausage and sticky rice.
April 1st, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Your killing me here!!! I want to lick the screen! Beautiful pictures and a most worthy recipe. Thanks!
April 1st, 2010 at 5:48 pm
can i have your shun knive? ohh no, i mean the chicken is fabulous! lol
April 1st, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Oh man that chicken looks ridiculously good. Love the sticky rice stuffing, especially since there’s Chinese sausage in it as well!
April 1st, 2010 at 8:36 pm
One question about the ‘sticky rice’.. Is it a certain type of rice I can get from the supermarket? Is it the same as sushi rice?
April 1st, 2010 at 9:38 pm
This is my first visit to your blog after I saw the picture of this dish @ FG.
Wow… nice birds. I like the lacquered look on them.
I’ll be back to explore.
April 1st, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Don’t be suprise that people find your blog with strange search with the words chicken, porn an ass in the same page!
April 1st, 2010 at 11:22 pm
That is one hot chick…en. I love rice stuffed chicken, have you ever had Samgyetang?
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:17 am
Lindsey — You can find sticky rice in Asian markets. It’s also known as “sweet rice” or “glutinous rice”. Sushi rice would work well in this recipe too.
Marc — I had to Google Samgyetang. Wow! Sounds awesome.
April 2nd, 2010 at 1:55 am
I also have Jean-Georges’ cookbook and have been meaning to test out his recipes b/c the pictures looked amazing! Great photos..the chicken is glazed so beautifully.
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:02 am
Mm mm mm.Rice stuffed chichen is something I never tried before, but I do have a fresh chichen waiting for me in the fridge for todays dinner. Sounds like a plan!
April 2nd, 2010 at 6:37 am
That poussin looks so shiny and beautiful – perfectly laquered… I love it! And I love the use of of the sticky rice as stuffing.
April 2nd, 2010 at 11:54 am
OMGOSH talk about food porn! make this for the weekend thanks! FABULOUS PHOTO
CookNg Sisters
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:01 pm
That looks almost too good to cut and eat. Almost…
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Absolutely gorgeous and inspiring. Reminds me of two familiar recipes too. You put me over the top to try this. PS – Great photos.
April 3rd, 2010 at 10:21 am
Geez S, after this it’s hard to think of anyone ever being your mentor
Love it. And I doubt you’ve ever had a problem determining which orifice is the ass 
April 3rd, 2010 at 2:18 pm
My friend told me to take a look at your blog and I fid and this chicken looks so good. It’s a must try.
April 4th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Zen – This is perhasps the most beautiful chicken I’ve ever seen. It looks as though you put it in a paint booth and sprayed it with lacquer, it is absolute perfection. The ass-stuffed rice looks pretty good too.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:03 am
Very unique design. Must try.
April 8th, 2010 at 9:01 am
This looks absolutely fabulous and I’m sure tasted divine. Ahhh…sticky rice and Chinese sausages from Hong Kong!
April 12th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
i read that part wrong at first and thought jean-georges recipe told you to stick the rice up the chicken’s ass! i thought to myself, DAMN, i gotta buy that cookbook!
April 25th, 2010 at 10:24 am
Amazing looking dish. What does the soy-whiskey glaze taste like? How sweet is it?
April 25th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Eddie — It’s sweet but balanced. The whiskey, soy sauce and ginger gives a nice depth of flavor that works great on chicken or duck.
May 15th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
[...] *Adapted from Zen Can Cook. [...]
May 17th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
If you are basting every 10 minutes with the sugary glaze, how does your pan not look like a sticky burnt mess in the end? Did you transfer to a new pan for the photo? You can tell us…
I always have trouble with that, because when even a little bit of the sugar burns, the aroma premeates the whole project. Any tips?
May 17th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Eric — It’s the same pan i cooked them in on the picture. I used a lot of glaze to baste the chicken and the cooking time was fairly quick so it didn’t have the time to reduce to the point of burning. Even if some of the glaze gets caramelized on the bottom of the pan it won’t affect the result, unless it’s badly burned. Keep an eye on it and it’ll be okay.
May 30th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
[...] skin on the chicken in the photo I was admiring. The recipe I was drooling over hails from Zen Can Cook, the blog of a professional private chef in NYC. I learned that he had pulled together two separate [...]
June 29th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
It looks just like something my mom would make (without the Whiskey)
. Yummy!