I confess, I am obsessed with perfecting a recipe. This is my third try, and wonderfully enough – I finally got it right. I tweaked the recipe a bit and I am very happy on the outcome. I used a whole chicken with bones intact (supermarket bought) and the flavors were just right – the right amount of saltiness and the flavor of lemongrass.
Here’s my tweaked recipe:
Tweaked IBERIAN CHICKEN Recipe
1 pc. whole chicken (with bones intact)
2-1/2 tbsp. whole fresh peppercorn, ground
12 heads garlic, peeled and pounded (you can lessen or add depending on your taste)
1-1/2 tbsp. rock salt
10-12 pcs. Calamansi (strain to take out the seeds)
5 white stems of lemon grass
1 pc. chicken cube dissolved in 1 cup boiled water
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
10 pieces Baby Potatoes cut into halves (you can opt not to cut them)
1.) Mix the calamansi juice, rock salt and freshly grounded peppercorn
2) Rub the mixture all over the chicken, make sure to rub inside the cavity!!
3.) Insert the LEMONGRASS into the cavity, together with some of the pounded GARLIC.
4.) Mix the CHICKEN CUBE/HOT WATER solution and OLIVE OIL.
5) Place the mixture on a ziplock plastic and place chicken inside, add all the garlic seal it up and make sure you take out as much air as you can.
6) Place in the refrigerator and marinate overnight.
7) Place in an oven-safe dish. Assemble the chicken with breast on top. Pour the marinade all over the chicken.
5.) Preheat oven to 350F. Before baking, put baby POTATOES in the platter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 2 hours until tender.
My first Iberian Chicken cooking quest!
*This recipe was tweaked from this site. Thank you!!