Peruvian Roast Chicken

I had been craving Peruvian roast chicken like crazy lately. I wavered between going to my favorite Pollo Mania - El Monte or trying to make my own.

Buy?

Make?

Buy?

Make?

Argh!

So I did both!

Bought, so I could dissect the marinade and made, since I had a lot of Aji Verde (Peruvian Green Chili Sauce) leftover from Thanksgiving. I ate it with Guamanian red rice before I re-cooked it with annatto seed powder to make it redder.


I blame Jewelz, What are We Doing Today? for putting the chicken and rice craving in my head. He tweeted about Halal chicken and rice in New York. Having never had it before, I offered up Hainanese chicken rice. Too much work though. Besides, did I tell you I had a craaaaaving for Peruvian chicken?

In exchange for a bowl of Bun Rieu Cua Tom (Vietnamese Crab and Shrimp Rice Vermicelli Soup), he had nicely lent me his Canon S90 for a few days. Which photo do you like more? My Canon XTi above? Or the S90 below? It's not like I need or can afford another camera, but it's nice to play with another camera to see how it works.


I asked him what he'd give me for my chicken and rice. A bowl of Daikokuya's ramen. And if he really liked it, he'd buy me two bowls of ramen. It's an ego thing. My chicken must be good enough to be worth two bowls of ramen, gosh darn it!

When he came to pick up his camera, I offered up some chicken to-go but he had already eaten dinner.

Just a bite, DJJewelz said.

No wonder I didn't think much of Zankou Chicken - Pasadena if I could make chicken like that, he said. And then asked me if he could place an order. He offered to pay 30% over the cost of the chicken.

Hey! That chicken might have only cost me $3 but it took 2 1/2 hours to make! Worth way more mark-up than that. If you want this kind of result, do not skip the brining and baking time.

So was the chicken worth two bowls of Daikokuya's ramen I asked?

What do you think?


When I set out to make this, I remembered Chuck of Sunday Nite Dinner's recipe from long ago. I also picked apart Pollo Mania's version to taste cumin, soy sauce, and lime juice.

Then it was my standard Baked Chicken with Salt, Pepper, and Lemon brining and baking method.


Peruvian Roast Chicken
Adapted from Sunday Nite Dinner and Pollo Mania - El Monte

For a 3-lb chicken, you'll need:
1 approximately 3-lb chicken :P
1/3 cup lime or lemon juice (I actually used about 1/2 cup lemon juice because you know how I like tart flavors.)
2 tblsps soy sauce
3 tsps salt
2 tsps ground cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder (Fresh garlic will turn green from the citrus juice.)

Wash chicken and allow juices to drain. Rub 3 tsps salt all over inside and outside of bird. In a bowl, mix 1/3, or 1/2 cup if you like tart, lemon or lime juice, 2 tblsps soy sauce, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground black pepper, and 1 tsp garlic powder. Then pour mixture over the chicken, including the cavity.

Let the chicken rest at room temperature breast side up for about half an hour to soak in the salt. Then flip the chicken over to breast side down and let it marinate for another half hour. You may cover the chicken with plastic wrap if you wish, but it's not necessary.

After one hour, bake chicken breast side down at 425 degrees for half an hour. (It should already be breast side down to absorb that marinade. See how clever? Heh!)

Turn over so breast side is up, adjust temperature down to 325 degrees and cook for another hour until skin is crisp and golden.

After the chicken is done, allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, to redistribute the juices, before carving.

Serve with aji verde.


Lil' sis' verdict?

Even better than Pollo Mania's version!

Enjoy!

My other baked and roast chicken recipes you might like:
Baked Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, Lemon, and Rosemary
Baked Chicken with Citrus Marinade
Baked Chicken with Salt, Pepper, and Lemon
Cuban Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken
Fessenjan (Persian Walnut Pomegranate Cornish Game Hen) with Dill Rice
Ga Ro Ti (Vietnamese Roasted Chicken)
Ga Ro Ti Xa (Vietnamese Roasted Lemongrass Chicken)

*****
1 year ago today, homemade Pumpkin Butter.
2 years ago today, presenting... my sushi and dim sum quilt.
3 years ago today, lil' sis's Chinese Sunbonnet Sue quilt and started this sushi and dim sum quilt.