Which way up

This weekend was a busy one for work… at the backend of long days and some midnight on-call sessions. What better way to reset our schedule than some Sunday afternoon chicken roasting? When the world goes upside down, I roast a chicken. It’s an easy, satisfying cook that doesn’t require finesse, is not too long and not too short, and fills the house with the promise of home and normalcy. 

 

Now, the recipe here is nothing fancy. It’s pure comfort food. Slight east Asian flavours with ginger and bird’s eye chilies were tossed through a can of chickpeas, half an onion finely diced, along with the chopped last of a head of broccolini, a bunch of garlic and a couple glugs of soya sauce. I use as much as I can of this to stuff the chicken cavity.

 

The bird is patted dry, rubbed with butter, liberally salted and further seasoned with some cayenne and ginger. Into the oven for 30 minutes at 450.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the spicy chickpea mixture is tossed through some pre-cooked and cooled rice. Some more soya sauce.  

 

At the 450 mark the chick comes out and carefully set aside. If any pieces of skin have stuck to the sheet pan, scrape them off and mix them into the rice as you arrange the rice onto the sheet. You don’t want it too thick or too thin. Make a little space in the middle where the chicken can fit, then have the rice arranged in a ring around it that it will not burn and dry out. You want the bottom to soak up the chicken fat and make a nice crisp bed. Cook for another 45 minutes or so at 350.

 

Take the chicken out, test for doneness and set aside for ten minutes. I’ll usually give the rice a good mix, spread it out again and crank up the oven for another 10 minutes at 400.

 

Now, this all went to plan. The aim is to serve the chicken alongside the rice and a spoonful of the chickpea stuffing/salad, and then to go in for extras of the rich, chicken-fat flavoured rice. Rujira came over to inspect and start with the plating when she began to laugh. 

 

“It’s upside down!” She shook her head, “Again!”

 

I didn’t believe her and we proceeded with a short debate I lost as soon as I opened my mouth. It was upside down. 

 

Right at the start of our COVID-distancing adventure, I’d for some reason cooked a chicken breast-side down rather than up. I’ve never done this before. I’d since done it more than once again. I have no idea why. 

 

Truth, though, with everything else upside down, why not this, too? The results are less picturesque. There’s something awesome to behold in a chicken breast with perfectly crisp skin cut from the bone and plated in one perfect slice. The skin here is not that crisp because the breast sits in the juice as it cooks…

 

Yet the taste, as I’ve come to realize, is incredible. The meat is actually amazing, as the fat from the dark meat pours down onto the breast during the cook, keeping it juice and extra flavourful. 

 

Is it Instagram-worthy? Maybe not. Will it become a part of the new normal we’re negotiating? I think so.

Chris