Salt-roasted chicken with marinade

1    Roasting chicken, 4 1/2 to
           -5 lbs.
      1 lg Piece caul fat or
           -cheesecloth soaked in oil
      5 lb To 6 lb coarse (kosher)
           -salt or rock salt

----------------------------------MARINADE----------------------------------
      3 sl Fresh ginger root
      3    Whole garlic cloves,
           -lightly crushed
      3    Whole scallions, cut into
           -3-inch sections
      1 tb Peanut oil
      1 tb Bean sauce
      2 tb Thin soy sauce
      1 tb Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
      1 tb Sugar
      1    Whole star anise
      1 ts Whole Sichuan peppercorns,
           -roasted
    1/4 c  chicken broth
      8    Whole stems Chinese parsley
 
  Method: Salt-roasting
  
  [This marinade can also be used on roasted duck. S.C.]
  
  Fill the chicken with the marinade, skewer it shut, and allow it to
  dry for 1 1/2 hours.
  
  1.  Wrap the chicken in a large piece of caul fat or cheesecloth
  soaked in oil.
  
  2.  Heat the salt in a pot [heavy Dutch oven, big wok or whatever can
  take the heat.  S.C.] on top of the stove over a low flame or in the
  oven at 350F for at least 1 hour.  Pour off some of the salt, leaving
  just enough to cover the bottom of the pot.  Lay the chicken on top
  of the salt in the pot and cover it with the remaining salt.  Cover
  the pot and bake the chicken for 1 1/2 hours.
  
  3.  Remove the chicken from the salt.
  
  4.  Pull off the salt that remains caked on the chicken.  Be careful,
  because the salt is hot.
  
  5.  With a paper towel, wipe away the remaining salt.  (The salt in
  the pot can be reused.)
  
  6.  Peel off the caul fat, drain the marinade, and cut the chicken
  into bite-size pieces.
  
  Serves 4 to 6 as a main course.
  
  May be served hot or cold; if cold, the chicken may be prepared up to
  a day in advance.  (Do not reheat.)
  
  Suggested beverage: Pinot Noir or Burgundy
  
  From "Chinese Technique" by Ken Hom with Harvey Steiman.  Simon and
  Schuster, New York.  1981.
  
  This is a good "guest" food.  You can appear to have mastered esoteric
  Oriental cooking techniques without ever having actually prepared the
  dish before...  Unless you drop the pot on the kitchen floor and set
  it on fire with the hot salt, it's a pretty foolproof cooking
  technique.
  
  I'd serve this two recipe with hot mustard, a bowl of hoisin sauce,
  Chinkiang vinegar, spiced salt and a bowl of chopped green onions for
  dipping along with some sweet Chinese pickles and lots of ice-cold
  Oriental beer.  Heaven!  (And rice, of course.)
  
  Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; August 12 1992.