Filipino cuisine is in my opinion a tad unique. It's a fusion of Chinese, Filipino, Spanish, and American flavors. Perfect example of Filipino Chinese Spanish is Chicken Arroz Caldo.
This dark brown baked chicken is an attempted copycat of the delicious baked chicken by a Filipino Chinese restaurant in the Philippines called SAVORY. This is where these different influences come in. The restaurant, although in English has the Spanish pronunciation of SABOR (flavor, taste) with a short a, and b is between B and V. If you are in the Philippines, don't make the mistake of pronouncing it as s
v
-r
; otherwise people won't know which restaurant you are looking for. The recipe for SAVORY-style chicken is top secret but lots of Filipinos abroad who miss eating the chicken started experimenting with Chinese Filipino flavors and published them on their food sites. I combined the recipes and made my own marinade. The flavors of the baked chicken and the sauce are very good and pretty close to the restaurant's.
Baked Chicken Marinated In Soy Sauce
3 pounds whole chicken
marinade
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon 5-spice powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon cracked black or white peppercorns
2-inch piece ginger
dipping sauce
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon 5-spice powder
sea salt, to taste
- Clean and dry the chicken well; place in a gallon freezer bag and leave in the refrigerator while preparing the marinade.
- Puree ginger, garlic, and scallions in a blender; add a tablespoon of soy sauce if necessary. Add the pureed mixture into the soy sauce together with the 5-spice powder, salt, and peppercorn. Cover with plastic and let sit on the kitchen counter for at least 2 hours. Strain and discard solids.
- Add the marinade to the chicken, making sure chicken is well coated inside and out. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Drain chicken; transfer marinade in a saucepan and heat to simmer. Leave marinade on simmer.
- Place the 2-inch piece ginger in the chicken cavity.
- Bake chicken for 1 ½ hours, basting with marinade every 20 minutes.
- Prepare sauce: In a small saucepan, heat oil and add flour; cook on medium-low heat until flour is golden. Slowly add broth while whisking. Add peanut butter and 5-spice powder; simmer while constantly stirring until thickened. Add salt, if needed. Enjoy!