TAIWANESE KILN-ROASTED CHICKEN
Weng-Yao Chicken, with its origins in Jiaoxi, is praised as the tastiest roast chicken restaurant in Taiwan. On weekends the restaurant sells over one thousand chickens while crowds of hungry diners eagerly wait in line for this mouth-watering dish. What exactly is the story behind this traffic-jam-inducing dish?
The restaurant serves black-feathered free-range hens for their supple meat and generous fat content, resulting in a dish that features golden and crispy skin, juicy meat, and non-greasy thighs and tender breast. Even without dipping in the restaurant’s homemade pepper salt or deliciously garlicky chicken gravy, one mouthful of tender chicken is enough to convert.
Weng-Yao Chicken’s founder and master chicken roaster, Lin Yi-hua, does not shy away from disclosing the methods of his success. He explains the chicken is first marinated in an alcohol and the spices are allowed to soak into the meat. The next step, flash-freezing, seals the flavors into the skin fat. The chicken is then air-dried, and the restaurant’s specialty paste is applied before the chicken is roasted in a large kiln for 30 minutes. When the chicken is approximately medium rare, the flavoring paste is reapplied, and the chicken is inserted into a smaller kiln and cooked at high temperature for another 5 to 10 minutes. This precise series of steps is essential to the quality of each chicken.
Another crucial detail of this traditional cooking method is burning Lychee wood to cook the chicken. The fragrance from the wood smoke is absorbed by the skin of the chicken, leaving a faint aroma that contributes to the unique flavor of the final dish. Chefs’ abilities must also be up to par, and they undergo half a year of training before entering the kitchen to ensure each chicken is as aromatic, crispy, and delicious as the last.
Weng-Yao’s earth ovens are proprietary in that they are the only patented kiln ovens in Taiwan. Mr. Lin created them by combining over 5 different types of clays. Their design ensures each chicken comes out as juicy and fragrant as possible. As for side dishes, fresh organic options include local Yilan agricultural products such as stir-fried Sanxing scallions and stir-fried white water snowflake stems.
Also in the vicinity is Jiaoxi, famous for its odorless Sodium Bicarbonate hot springs. When bathing at Jiaoxi’s hot springs, which are only one hour’s drive from Taipei, one shouldn’t forget to leave time for a Weng-Yao chicken dinner. Weng-Yao also has satellite restaurants in Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, Pingtung, and other towns in Central or Southern Taiwan.
