Five-Spice Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (about 2 1/2 pounds), rinsed
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced ginger
4 tablespoons minced garlic
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 whole star anise, lightly toasted in a dry pan for 3 minutes, pounded or ground into a fine powder

Cooking Directions

Cut the chicken into 6 pieces and make 1 or 2 slashes in each piece for faster cooking. Trim and discard any excess fat. Pat the chicken dry.

In a bowl, combine the oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, turmeric, five-spice powder and salt. Stir well to blend. Add the chicken pieces and turn several times to coat them evenly. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Heat a grill to moderate heat. Thirty minutes before cooking, add the freshly toasted star anise powder to the marinated chicken, turning so the meat is coated evenly.

Place the chicken, skin side up, on the grill. Cook 10 minutes, then turn over and grill until the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear, another 10 minutes, depending on the thickness. While grilling, move the chicken pieces around so that they cook evenly. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter.

Cooking Notes

If you want to bake, I baked at 335 Degrees F for 45 minutes (or until the internal temperature of the chicken got to 175).

This is also good with chicken strips and a soy-lime dipping sauce.

I usually marinated overnight.

This marinate has a yellow color and if you are not careful, can stain your countertop. At times, I have used more turmeric, which makes it even yellower. Good for color, but just be careful.

You can use more star-anise if you prefer (I like 1 for every 2 pieces of meat).