Hakka Salt-Smoked Chicken with Ginger Scallion Oil

Name: Hakka Salt-Smoked Chicken with Ginger Scallion Oil
Cuisine: Malaysian
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons (28 ml) ginger juice (1 knob fresh ginger, 2 inches [5 cm], sliced and pounded and juiced); 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine); 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine); ½ teaspoon sand ginger powder (or ginger powder); ½ teaspoon sand ginger powder (or ginger powder); 1 whole chicken, 3½ to 4 pounds (1.6 to 1.8 kg); 4 to 5 pounds (1.8 to 2.3 kg) salt rock; 4 to 5 pounds (1.8 to 2.3 kg) salt rock; Parchment paper; 1 knob fresh ginger, 2 inches (5 cm), minced or processed; ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder or ½ cube chicken bouillon; ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder or ½ cube chicken bouillon; ¼ cup (60 ml) Scallion Oil

Preparation info

Serves
4 to 6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Chinese-American Barbecue

By Winnie Yee

Published 2026

About

This is my favorite dish of all time. My late aunt 二姨 (my mother’s younger sister) used to make this every time we came back to Malaysia for summer vacation.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (28 ml) ginger juice (1 knob fresh ginger,

Asia
Malaysia
Main course
Summer

Method

Slice the 2-inch (5 cm) ginger root and pound it in a mortar and pestle. Add the juice, ginger fibers, Shaoxing wine, sand ginger powder, and salt into the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs with butcher’s twine and tuck the forewing back. Marinate in the refrigerator uncovered for 2 hours.
Spread out the salt rocks into 2 separate trays. Place them into the o