A large chicken, stuffed with lemons and herbs, butter snuck under the skin, and basted with pure pork lard. Need I say more? :) This was superb.
I have posted several recipes for roasted chicken before, and many were absolutely delicious. But if you happen to have tampalen or leaf lard, as we do in the fridge constantly now, then try basting a bird with the lard. Season well with salt and pepper too. It turns a beautiful golden brown color, crisp savory skin, yet unless I told you, you probably wouldn’t guess there was any lard…
Despite all the pork experiments of late, the recipe testing for the restaurant, and the occasional lardy splurge like this one, my cholesterol levels remain well on the low side of the recommended range, and I have only gained back 3 or so pounds of the 30+ that I lost on a recent diet. :)
36 Responses
Can I do this in the pit and still baste it with lard? :)
What’s the pink tie on the chicken’s legs on the second photo? :)
It’s a silicone implement! For baking! It doesn’t melt. :D
May I get the complete recipe and oven settings please? Where do I get lard? Sorry new cook.
Thanks so much!
MM, this looks delicious! Where can we find lard in Manila? I’d also love to use it in pies :)
ps, im not sure why my location says “United States” hehehe :) 100% Pinoy from the Philippines :)
Thought I read chicken bastard ( yes, there is a bastard chicken recipe) and I had to look a second time ….. but looks like a purrfectly roasted chicken. I’ve never roasted a chicken that looks like that!
Aikko, the server you might be using is located in the US. That happens all the time. :-)
I love this MM….
delicious!
here in the UAE, they have roasted chicken for 12 -15 AED, but it’s nothing compared to our tasty lechon / tuyok / roasted chickens in the philippines.
When I go for vacation this october, on top of my “To-Eat” list is Zubuchon and tuyok manok. But if this will be in Zubuchons menu then the fine dining at Zubuchon’s resto would be ‘killing two birds at the same time’.
Mr. MM, i don’t have an oven and I’ve heard we can cook pinaupong manok even without an oven, but I am hesitant. Do you have a recipe on how to cook whole chicken on stove/burner-top?
love joan, no plans to serve this at the restaurant so far… just a home experiment. :) Aikko and Zharmagne, I haven’t seen pure tampalen lard for sale in Manila, but Zubuchon now carries it in all outlets in Cebu… Zharmagne, look up my old roast chicken recipes and you will get details there, and just baste with lard, that’s all there is to it. Joan, you can roast this over charcoal, baste with lard 3-4 times during the 45 minutes or so of roasting…
looks delicious!
Oh wow thanks for much, i just came from Cebu, im back in Manila now. I remember you featuring Lard before.
Is it just me, or does the first pic of the chicken look rather inapproriate ;)
Covering the chicken with fatty bacon gives a nice finish and flavour, The bacon shrinks exposing the chicken skin to direct heat, and the crispy bacon is a nice addition to roast potatoes with sour cream and chives.
the jumbo chicken looks delicious mmmm :)
But how do you transpose into a photograph the golden richness of roasted animal skin?
I first saw this technique from Julia Child around forty years ago, getting under the skin of a whole chicken to deposit a layer of herbed butter between the meat and the already fat skin.
And then there was Craig Claiborne sticking slivers of black truffle a few years later. Never got to test either because you just can’t surpass Swiss Chalet or Saint Hubert mesquite barbecued chicken if you reside in Canada.
I really do not know why one would opt for a misbegotten chicken when there are so many legitimately laid chickens scratching around. I just thought it could have been a bastardization of barded chicken roast but no, it’s actually chicken parts cooked with honey. Must be like honey garlic chicken but I could not be bothered reading the rest of the recipe.
Inappropriate Name for this: Binaboy na Manok.
That’s actually a good one, Lee haha!!
Mmmmmmm….one rainy day delight…excellently paired with Coke Zero and after a blissful nap ( with the rain lulling you to sleep ), hike to the gym and sweat it out…
Here is what I am thinking….maybe infuse garlic and basil with the lard and heat it slowly…or vary the herbs…then brush the chicken with it…
So, there Lee…sosyal na Binaboy na Manok!
Sorry, MM….I can’t help it….
Here I am laughing my “bumbunan” off…and trying to think of additional comment to Lee and BettyQ, but can’t come up with anything good. I am eating late breakfast croissant with crunchy bacon and I am thinking it could have been chicharon chicken or pork… eto tuloy “namumuwalan” ako. Anyway, I have been ordering (through California) cold-pressed coconut oil imported from Mt. Arayat. They are very good quality, and when I do any frying.. this is what I use. With the good fats like olive oil, but with the capability of peanut oil in terms of high heat..this really is excellent for my weekend crispy pata and fried chicken skins.
go marketman! woot!
@EbbaBlue – Please tell me where to order the cold-pressed coconut oil imported from Mt. Arayat. Thanks.
If you do happen to feature this on the menu, you can classify it as ‘Heavenly Foods’ or ‘Heaven on a Plate’. This is another recipe that will bring the diner closer to God.
On another note, cholesterol is a funny thing. There’s the chap here in the US who consumed his ‘billionth’ or whatever Big Mac (after eating 1-2 a day). Allegedly his cholesterol isn’t so bad either. But then again, he may not be eating anything else.
EbbaBlue…yeah, what company…your cold pressed Arayat coconut oil? Do they ship worldwide? I used to buy this canned frozen cacang gata labeled D’Best Coconut Cream and distributed by Simex Intl. I cannot get it anymore here. i used to buy them directly from the Asian wholesaler in Vancouver pero they don’t bring it in anymore for some reason. Sayang!
This sounds sinfully good. All it lacks is bacon.
Yummm!! The skin looks so good. Will try this with mommy :)
BettyQ: I thought you knew everything . Have you tried any of the organic stores in your area?
I get cold pressed coconut oil where I am from a grocery coop called “Glut”, would you believe? A 14 oz jar can be had for under $12…not cheap but I still have a tablespoon or two left in the jar from when I bought it 2 months ago. But of course I seldom fry. I sometimes mix it with virgin olive oil and good butter ( from grass fed cows) for my cooking.
Still cold in Vancouver? If and when you get it, your oil will be in hibernation….natutulog na mantika. but will liquefy when the weather warms up. My son who is into naturopathy loves it so much he even slathers it on his skin and hair, then he begins to smell like biko, I tell him.
This looks delicious MM! Will definitely give it a go. To Ebbablue & others commenting about cold-pressed coconut oil, did you know that coconut oil, but especially this type and also “virgin” coconut oil, has recently been found to be THE best oil to use for all sorts of purposes? The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. These benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, soothing, etc. It can even help you to lose weight! (it promotes thermogenesis in the body and so increases our metabolic rate). So yes, will definitely try to roast a chicken using coconut oil as well! If you wish to find out more about the true facts about virgin coconut oil or VCO, and shatter all the myths that we’ve been told about it, have a read about it here:
https://www.thevirgincoconutoil.com/articleitem.php?articleid=156 and here:
https://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/savethechildren.htm
So I’d say go ahead and buy the stuff, and hopefully rejuvenate the local industry in the process! BTW I’m not affiliated with coconut oil companies, merely a reader who has stumbled on the latest research and eager to pass on the news. I’m sure that you can google VCO suppliers in the Philippines to find out where to purchase it. I buy it online here in Australia myself.
Cheers :-)
Yup, they sell coconut oil in a jar at the Natural Health Food store here. Kaya lang, maybe I am used to the smell of latik. That cocnut oil in jar doesn’t smell like anything at all. I thought how can it be coconut oil then. I am looking for one to put it on my skin like my face for it is so dry and so is my hair…maybe because of the cold weather and soaking in hot tub of water till I turn to a prune!
Oh, have to tell you to try a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Go to Chapters and scan through a cookbook called Cooksmart. If you have Cooks Illustrated, it is also there. I just happen to kill time at Chapters ththe other day but I am going back to buy that cookbook. I am telling you that this is THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE recipe and i really mean the IT! I have stopped looking and testing for the IT one! The only thing…here are my tweaks….I used regular salted butter, decreased the salt to 1/2 tsp. and the choicolate chips ( I used Dove for that is what I had a lot of) only 1 cup and increased the vanilla to 2 tsps. I got 42 walnut size balls, and kept them in teh freezer. …and baked it only for 3 to 4 minutes at 400 degrees and 3 to 4 minutes at 350 degrees…turned the oven off and left it only for another 1 minute or 2 ….turned out perfect …the way I wanted it to be….held its shape (you have to bake them frozen), and slightly chewy and not cakey. Mahirap tigilan sa tatlong cookies!
Betty Q, the smell of latik is from cooked coconut oil. Since VCO is cold-pressed, it smells neutral. But I’ve discovered that my VCO begins to smell like “latik” if it is stored and rarely used in hot weather over a long period of time.
Oh, Ms, Connie C…I also decreased the amount of granulated sugar to just 1/2 cup. Maybe for Mr. C, use Splenda together with Brown Splenda.
hello betty q, and others, my brother who is in the northwest swears by this BLUE BREEZE organic virgin coconut oil. i am still using the gallon he sent me. a little bit pricier $40++ per gallon but quality is better. check it out online.
Pig flavored chicken? I like!
I watched an episode of America’s Test Kitchen (cooking show for “nerd cooks”; they explain the science of the recipe, why this ingredient was used and not something else, why one technique is used an not another, etc.) where they said something similar to Footloose’s mention of Julia Child’s technique of “rubbing under the skin”.
To get the lemony taste of lemon chicken, stuffing the cavity of the chicken with lemons didn’t do the trick. The trick was to stuff lemon zest between the skin and the meat (breast, thighs and legs).
Here’s a link to the recipe from their website (Cook’s Country TV edition):
Roast Lemon Chicken: https://www.cookscountrytv.com/recipes/Overview.asp?docid=19102
(need to sign up for 14-day free trial to get access to the recipe).
@Marketman
Thanks for post this, I can’t wait to try it. I would think bacon fat would work if you don’t have lard?
Also, I tried to find the compete recipe by taking your advice you gave, “lovejoan” but did not know which specific old roasted chicken recipe. Do you think you can post the entire recipe?
Thanks so much!