Directions

1. First, let’s make the five spice mixture. You will need 2/3 tsp of fennel seed, 1 tsp of Sichuan peppercorn, 1 piece of star anise, 2 small little pieces of cinnamon, 1 small piece of cardamom, 1 piece of dried orange peel. Blend them together and set it aside. This just the five spice that I mix together, it is not the ones that you usually buy from the store. They smell different. Although you can use it but it does lead you to a different result.

2. Next, we will make the wet ingredient mix. You will need 1/4 cup of chopped red onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 3 slices of ginger. Blend them as well. Mix this into the spice mixture along with, 2.5 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp of MSG (optional), 1 tsp of oil.
3. Now you can take care of the whole chicken. Cut off the wings. Flip the chicken to breast side down. Use scissors to remove the backbone. Take a knife. Do a cut on each side of the soft cartilage that is above the breastbone. Break it open. In this way, the chicken should be able to lay flat and bake evenly.
4. Apply the spice mixture on the chicken. I like to put most of the seasoning on the meat side and use less seasoning on the skin side. Will explain to you later. Put the chicken in a bag. Let it sit in the fridge overnight.
5. Take it out the next day and put it on a baking rack. Pour boiling hot water to wash off all the marinade on the skin. If you don’t wash off the marinade, all that spices are going to burn easily and ruin the skin. Also a quick blanching will make the skin shrink and become tight which makes your chicken come out even more crispy. Because we have a rack under it so the meat side of the marinade is still attached on the chicken. You don’t need to worry about that the chicken will have not flavor.
6. Place some potato slices all over the baking pan. Put the chicken on top of the potatoes.
7. Dry the chicken skin with a paper towel. Brush a layer of oil. Make it nice and shiny. There is a little bit oil left so I brushed it on the potato.
8. I did sprinkle a small amount of salt on the skin because we just washed off the most of the sodium. I used about 1/4 tsp of salt here. Get a sieve and dust a thin layer of all-purpose flour on the skin. This is another twist that I did on this recipe because if you don’t have the flour, the skin does come out crispy but it is also rubbery. The flour will create a thin layer of flakiness and it takes the chicken to another level. Make sure you do this evenly and don’t put too much. I only used about a tbsp of flour.
9. Now your chicken is ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 360 degrees I use the bottom heat. Put the chicken in the middle layer of the rack and bake it for 50 minutes. Switch the heat to the top in 50 minutes later and give the skin a nice color. It will likely take about 10-15 minutes and you are done.