Preparing Roasted Chicken.

Introduction

A good, fresh looking chicken will always be the most vital aspect of this task. As mentioned earlier the first styling tasks are to look for the best ingredients available you can find. If it have to take you to wake in the early hour of the day to find this ‘actor’ by all means you have to do it. It is not impossible here in Malaysia for us to look for freshly slaughtered and carefully dressed chicken. So what you need for this task:

1. Fresh and carefully dressed, proportionate chicken.

2. Aluminum foil.

3. Panting brushes.

4. Thread – strong and thin (fine)

5. Pins / needles.

6. For coloring – caramel. Thick and thin soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar syrup and oil.

7. Roasting pan.

8. Freshly selected vegetables

9. Sauce (optional)

10. Props and tools - crockery, utensils etc

Steps one:

Clean and dressed chicken carefully. Make sure there are no tiny hairs or any bruises. Stuff the chicken with aluminum foil and push up the breast upward. Use fine and strong sewing thread for trussing. If thick or butcher twine are used it with create a roasting mark onto the chicken. Position the chicken as how you want it to be. Pin both wings to it body using needles. Be careful with the wings if it turns dark during the roasting process cover it with aluminum foil.

Thick and thin soy sauce, oyster sauce and honey is used to paint the chicken for a roasting effect,

 Preparing the vegetables for the roasted chicken.

 The chicken is stuffed with aluminum foil this allow to better shaped the chicken.

 A pin or needles are used to secure the opening to make the roasted chicken more presentable.

 Trussing the chicken using a strong but thin sewing thread.

Before applying a paint on the chicken, baste it with hot boiling water.

When the chicken is ready, baste it with hot boiling water. This is to make the skin to be slightly cooked. This will allow it to be painted if not the color may not stick to the skin.Using the combination of the color that are available in the kitchen such as caramel, thick and thin soya sauce and oyster sauce, you may paint the chicken to resemble a fully cooked roasted chicken. A fully cooked roasted chicken may not look appetizing in a photograph – it may shrink in the process of roasting. The process of painting the chicken may take a few steps. You have to apply the color layer by layer, alternately by putting the chicken in a pre-heat oven of 200 degree C, 2 – 3 minutes at each time.

Once you feel that you get the right color that you want, untied the chicken, and paint it where the thread may leave a visible mark. Prepare a plate or casserole depending on how you want to present your roast chicken. Arrange it and visualize on how you want it to appear in a photograph. Be careful of the chicken jus and dripping it may wet you plate so you need to be fast. Before that you got to prepare the accompaniment – vegetables, starches and sauce where appropriate.