Chicken Roast with Longan and Dates Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1-1½ kg whole chicken
• 4-5 garlic cloves , unpeeled and smashed
• 1 thumb-sized knob of ginger, unpeeled, smashed
• 1 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil
• STUFFING
• 2 cups glutinous rice , soaked overnight and then drained
• 6 dried Chinese mushrooms , soaked, then sliced into slivers
• 4 shallots , peeled and sliced
• 10 dried longans , rinsed
• 6 dried red dates , rinsed
• Pinch salt
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine

Steps

1. Heat oven to 200°C
2. Rub chicken evenly with salt, five-spice powder and oil.
3. Place ginger and whole garlic cloves and ginger into the cavity. Place in the oven and roast for an hour. Lower the heat to 180°C 30mins in.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the glutinous rice. In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil and sautee the shallots til aromatic and brown.
5. Mix in the mushrooms.
6. Add the drained rice and combine well to properly coat the grains with oil.
7. Add rice wine and stir. Add the longans, red dates and a pinch of salt.
8. Put the rice mixture in a rice cooker. Pour the chicken stock into the mixture and cook through.
9. The chicken should be done at about the same time.
10. Serve chicken with the rice stuffing.