A whole chicken is submerged in soy-sauce brine to make the juiciest oven-roasted chicken with an amazing five-spice rub. You don’t want to miss the sweet and sour ginger garlic dipping sauce too. It’s perfect for holiday meals or everyday meals.
Soy Sauce-Brined Five-Spice Oven-Roasted Chicken
This soy sauce brine five-spice oven-roasted chicken is perfect for holiday celebrations like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Easter, etc. We didn’t do a whole turkey for our family of 4, it’s just too much. Though I like leftovers, I decided to roast a chicken, which is a perfect size for a small family like ours. The soy sauce brine yields juicy chicken meat.
What is soy sauce brine?
It is basically a brine made with light and dark soy sauce, instead of salt, and water. It’s a salty solution like brine would be. I like using soy sauce because it has that hint of umami. The soy sauce brine is perfect for turkey, duck, pork chops, or other meat too.
What is the purpose of the brine solution?
Brining adds flavor and tenderizes the meat. The salt breaks down the protein in the meat and draws in more moisture to the meat, resulting in juicy and tender meat.
Ingredients for the brine
1. Light soy sauce
Light soy sauce is basically a regular soy sauce. It doesn’t mean that this is the lite soy sauce, which means less sodium. It’s lighter in color compared to dark soy sauce
2. Dark soy sauce
Dark soy sauce as its name implies is darker in color and used mainly for adding color. The soy sauce has a slightly thicker texture and is less salty compared to regular soy sauce with just a hint of sweetness. The dark soy sauce will give a nice golden brown color to the skin of the chicken after cooking. You can substitute with Indonesian kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and omit the brown sugar
3. Brown sugar
I use light brown sugar. You can also substitute with coconut sugar
How to prepare soy sauce brine
It’s a super simple brine to make. Here’s how:
Put all ingredients for the brine in the pot and bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. Let it cools down completely, about an hour or so. The brine has to cool down completely before you put the chicken in
How to cook the juiciest five-spice roast chicken
1. Prepare the brine as I mentioned above
2. Rub some salt all over the chicken and then rinse off with water. Pat dry. This will make the skin smooth and shiny
3. Gently submerge the chicken, breast side down, into the brine. The top of the chicken may peek out a bit, not fully submerged, and it’s not a big deal as long as the breast and the legs are all fully submerged in the brine. Cover the pot and put it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours. I don’t recommend going beyond 12 hours or the chicken may get too salty
4. After 12 hours, remove the chicken from the brine and rinse the chicken inside and outside with clean cold or room temperature water and pat the chicken dry with an absorbent paper towel. If you want to dry the chicken skin for crispier skin, proceed to the “dry the chicken” step below. If not, proceed to “rub the chicken” step
5. To dry the chicken: Place a tall jar that can support the weight of the chicken into the cavity of the chicken. So the chicken can stand right up. I place this inside the pot and put it inside the fridge overnight (about 8 hours) to let the skin dry
6. Rub the skin with oil all over
7. Mix the five-spice powder with salt and rub this all over the chicken and inside the cavity. Place the ginger slices inside the cavity
8. Preheat oven to 425 F (218 C), use a fan mode if available. Place the chicken on a roasting pan with a rack and let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes so the chicken cooks more evenly
9. Place the roasting tray in the middle of the oven and let it cook for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 F (180 C) and let it continue cooking for about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Check for doneness. The internal temperature at the joint between the leg and thigh should be about 175-180 F (79 – 82 C) or until juices are clear and no longer pink
10. Remove the chicken from the roasting rack on a platter. Cover with a foil and let it rest for 15 minutes. Save the dripping on the roasting tray to make gravy or other use. It’s probably hard for you to see but the chicken is so juicy when I cut it into serving pieces
11. Cut the chicken into serving size and serve with the dipping sauce
Tips for success
1. Make sure the brine is cooled down completely before you put the chicken in
You don’t want the hot or warm brine to slowly cook the chicken during brining
2. Make sure to put the breast side and legs into the brine so they are completely submerged. If the top part of the chicken peeks out a bit, it’s fine
3. I recommend brining for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. I won’t recommend anything beyond 12 hours for a 5 lbs chicken like in this recipe. If you are doing this for a 12-16 lbs turkey, then it is fine to brine for up to 24- 48 hours
4. I recommend drying the chicken overnight in the fridge for that crispy skin
5. Remember to pat the chicken skin really dry before rubbing with oil and five-spice mix
6. Cover the chicken with a foil after cooking and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing to maintain juiciness
Did you make this juiciest soy sauce brine five-spice oven-roasted chicken recipe?
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Soy Sauce Brined Five-Spice Oven-Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
- 2.3 kg chicken
- 2 inches ginger (thumb-size) sliced
- Salt to exfoliate the chicken skin
Brine:
- 1 cup light soy sauce
- ¼ cup dark soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 12 cup water
- 6 star anise
To rub on the chicken:
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1 Tbsp five-spice powder
- 1 tsp salt
Sweet and sour ginger garlic sauce:
- 45 ml soy sauce
- 50 gr brown sugar
- 15 ml rice vinegar
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes or more to your taste
Instructions
Prepare the soy sauce brine:
- Use a large pot that can accommodate the chicken and the brine. Put all ingredients for the brine in the pot and bring to a boil to dissolves sugar. Let it cools down completely, about an hour or so. The brine has to cool down completely before you put the chicken in1 cup light soy sauce, 1/4 cup dark soy sauce, 1 cup brown sugar, 12 cup water
Prepare the chicken:
- Rub some salt all over the chicken and then rinse off with water. Pat dry. This will make the skin smooth and shinySalt, 2.3 kg chicken
Brine the chicken:
- Gently submerge the chicken, breast side down, into the brine. The top of the chicken may peek out a bit, not fully submerged, and it's not a big deal as long as the breast and the legs are all fully submerged in the brine2.3 kg chicken
- Cover the pot and put it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours. I don't recommend going beyond 12 hours or the chicken may get too salty
- After 12 hours, remove the chicken from the brine and rinse the chicken inside and outside with clean cold or room temperature water and pat the chicken dry with an absorbent paper towel. If you want to dry the chicken skin for crispier skin, proceed to the "dry the chicken" step below. If not, proceed to "rub the chicken" step
Dry the chicken (optional):
- Place a tall jar that can support the weight of the chicken into the cavity of the chicken. So the chicken can stand right up. I place this inside the pot and put it inside the fridge overnight (about 8 hours) to let the skin dry
Rub the chicken:
- Rub the skin with oil all over. Mix the five-spice powder with salt and rub this all over the chicken and inside the cavity. Place the ginger slices inside the cavity1 Tbsp cooking oil, 1 Tbsp five-spice powder, 1 tsp salt, 2 inches ginger (thumb-size)
Leave for 20 minutes:
- Preheat oven to 425 F (218 C), use a fan mode if available. Place the chicken on a roasting pan with a rack and let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes so the chicken cooks more evenly
Roast the chicken:
- Place the roasting tray in the middle of the oven and let it cook for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 F (180 C) and let it continue cooking for about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Check for doneness. The internal temperature at the joint between the leg and thigh should be about 175-180 F (79 - 82 C) or until juices are clear and no longer pink
Prepare the dipping sauce:
- Put all ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook until the mixture is bubbly and sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat. The sauce will thicken further as it cools down. Once cools down completely, it can be kept in the fridge for up to one week50 gr brown sugar, 15 ml rice vinegar, 45 ml soy sauce, 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp grated ginger
Rest the chicken before cutting:
- Remove the chicken from the roasting rack on a platter. Cover with a foil and let it rest for 15 minutes. Save the dripping on the roasting tray to make gravy or other use
When ready to serve:
- Cut the chicken into serving size and serve with the dipping sauce
