Litson Manok (Roasted Chicken)

In Visayan, we call it Litson Manok, but it's commonly known as Lechon Manok in vast areas in Philippines.  This dish is very popular in our country.  You get to see them beautifully skewered and cooked before your eyes in big rotisserie in front of most Pinoy restaurants or diners.  When I was home few months ago, I had the opportunity to indulged them countless times.  Now, I'm back here in the US and my palate has been calling for the taste of it.  Preparing this chicken is almost the same as if you're roasting a whole chicken, except for few key steps and ingredients that are so vital to get the special flavor that this chicken stands out.  It requires marination for several hours, or best if left overnight in the fridge to get the maximum taste being submerged in the liquid marinade.  In here, I use two Cornish game hens.  They are smaller than regular chickens, hormone-free and cage-free.  It's just the kind of chicken we, as a family choose to consume.   However, you can use any regular whole chicken you may have.  I chose to put them in the oven instead in a rotisserie simply because I have two of them and my rotisserie is not quite big enough for them.  While baking them, the aroma of the lemon grass wonderfully fills the air in the entire house that it gives me such great anticipation for my meal to get my hands to that delectable chicken...yum!  Back home, this is best served with steamed rice and dipping sauce (2 tablespoons soy sauce + 1 tablespoon white vinegar, with small chili peppers *optional), or Mang Tomas Lechon sauce (can be found at some Asian grocery store).


Ingredients

1 2-3 pounds whole chicken, or 2 small Cornish game hens
1 8oz. sprite or 7up
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small size yellow onion, sliced
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, sliced
1 to 2 stalks of lemon grass (tanglad)
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
salt and freshly ground pepper


Mix Sprite or 7up, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, onions, pepper and sugar.  Add whole chicken.  If cooking on the same day, marinade the chicken for an hour or more, otherwise let it set in the fridge for overnight to get the best result, turning the chicken occasionally making sure to adhere all areas of the chicken to the marinade.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Stuffed the chicken cavity with lemon grass (tied together), garlic, bay leaves, peppers, some onion slices from the marinade.  Inject some of the marinade unto the inside of the chicken.  Rub chicken with olive oil, sprinkle liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Roast the chicken for 1 hour or until the chicken is golden brown and internal temperature reads 165 degrees F, and juices run clear.  If the skin burns quickly before chicken is done, loosely cover the chicken with an aluminum foil.  Take out of heat, let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.  Wash hands (the way we, Filipinos eat this chicken) and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce!


Tip:  When roasting whole poultry, tuck the tips of the wings at the back of the breast to avoid burning.



*Recipe inspiration is from  Panlasang  Pinoy, with Sweetpea's slight modifications to suit our palate.