Servings
Font
Back
4.9 from 147 votes

Whole Young Chicken with Cucumbers

Whether you're entertaining or relaxing, this recipe hits the spot.

Prep Time
6 hrs
Cook Time
mins
Total Time
6 hrs 25 mins
Servings: 1 serving
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese

Ingredients

  • 1 young chicken (aka poussin) whole
Pickled Cucumber
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1/4 cup dark Japanese soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup mirin
  • 1/4 lemon juice
  • 1/4 orange juice
  • 4 tablespoons kimchi sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Young Chicken Marinade
  • 5 ⅔ oz sweet miso
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons sake
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 2 tablespoons yamasa soy
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Peel the cucumber and cut lengthways in half. Take out all seeds with a spoon. Slice into 1cm (0.4 inch) thick slices to make nice half-moon shapes.
  2. Mix the dark soy sauce, Japanese rice vinegar, mirin, lemon juice, orange juice, kimchi sauce, sugar and sesame oil together and add your cucumber slices to the mix.
  3. Leave the cucumber to marinate for at least 6 hours.
  4. Mix all other ingredients together, except the young chicken, to form a paste.
  5. Smother the paste all over the young chicken so that it is nicely covered and place in a bowl or tray in the refrigerator.
  6. Leave it to marinate for at least 24 hours for maximum flavour.
  7. To cook, place under the grill in your oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius (355 Fahrenheit).
  8. Colour both sides until beautifully golden, approx. 5 minutes on either side.
  9. When finished, cut to make sure cooked well, if there are any signs of pink you will need to cook it for a few extra minutes.
  10. While the chicken is hot, cut into 6 pieces and arrange on a plate.
  11. Take some of the fresh cucumber pickles and arrange next to the chicken. You can also add a slice of lime as shown in the picture, a squeeze of the lime on the chicken will lift it into bliss.
Notes:
  1. *Ask your butcher to spatchcock the young chicken for you as this will save you the troubles of having to remove the bones yourself.
  2. You can find all of these ingredients at your local Japanese outlet.
  3. *For extra flavour, try making this on your charcoal BBQ, takes a little more care not to burn it but the results will be surely fantastic.

Notes