The text read, “On the way home from drill can you get me some Chinese rock sugar?”
I pulled my truck into a parking lot so I could answer. “What do you need that for?”
“I’m making Pot Roasting Chicken.”
‘Can’t you just use regular sugar?”
“Nope, it cooks down too fast. Just get it please…I love you [insert heart emoji here]!”
I’m always a sucker for Laura’s heart emoji.
It was a drill day and I was near Joint Base Lewis McCord in the South Puget Sound area. It seems that military bases attract Asian businesses like magnets attract filings, much to the satisfaction of well-traveled soldier stomachs worldwide.
Chinese Rock Sugar
I figured that Chinese rock sugar would be easy to find. Which is how I ended up, in uniform, going from Asian grocery to grocery in search of rock sugar. I was lucky and found it at the second store I visited and made the two hour drive home with only a hundred dollars extra spices, coconut milk, vitamins and a bag of shelled, salted chestnuts to snack on.
Lily’s Oriental Emporium
Laura’s recipe for Chinese Pot Roast Chicken originally comes from Lily’s Oriental Emporium in Great Falls, MT where she took cooking classes in the early 1980’s. This was a dish she made regularly over the years as she moved around the world, evolving the mix of ingredients and cooking style until she had created a dish that is simple, savory and amazingly delicious.
A little bit about Lily’s Oriental Emporium. Laura remembers it as an Asian grocery and store with a kitchen upstairs where Lily conducted cooking classes. Laura took many classes with her and remembers Lily as a sparkling, spry woman with a great sense of humor and a flair for wonderful dishes.
We googled Lily’s to see if we could get more information but discovered that the establishment was apparently closed. Thanks to the typed and mimeographed sheets Laura kept all these years, some of the magic of Lily’s lives on.
We did learn that during its history, Lily’s trained hundreds of people in her style of Chinese cooking and helped great regional chefs such as Nick Mehmke, Executive Chef at the Grand Union Hotel outside Great Falls, MT. Thanks to the typed and mimeographed sheets Laura kept all these years, some of the magic of Lily’s lives on. Here is how she made Lily’s Pot Roasting Chicken:
Lily’s Pot Roasting Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, sans giblets and neck
1 TBSP crystalized sugar [rock candy]
1 star anise [8 points]
1 thumb ginger [packed]
4 TBSP dark soy sauce
1 TBSP whiskey [we used, and love, Rebel Yell]
2 green onions, sliced and rolled
Directions
- Fire up your convection BBQ. We use a Big Green Egg but the Charbroil ____________ works as well. We use Big Green Egg charcoal because we find it has the best balance of even heat and good wood flavor.
- Season the chicken with salt and whatever spices you like. We just use salt as that compliments the ingredients that go into the pot and eventually become the sauce.
- Place the ingredients in a __ quart pot. We used a cast iron dutch oven and cannot recommend enough how perfect this is for roasting meats and chicken.
- Let the convection bbq reach a consistent heat of 375 – 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the chicken in the pot, the lid on the pot and the pot in the bbq. Close it up and set the chimney opening to maintain that heat range.
- After 20 minutes, open the bbq [CAUTION: on convection bbqs, open the lid about an inch and let some heat vent out before opening fully or else you risk your eyebrows and other body parts to flash heat!] and turn the chicken both over and a quarter turn. Close the lid and let it cook another 20 minutes.
- After 40 minutes total cook time turn the chicken again.
- At 60 minutes total cook time use a meat thermometer to check the done-ness of the chicken. We use the breast to judge as it is the thickest meat on the bird.
- When the chicken is done transfer from the pot and let cool a few minutes.
Garlic Ginger Rice
Ingredients
2 cups rice Jasmine or brown rice
3 ¼ cups chicken broth or stock
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½ thumb ginger, sliced but not chopped
Dash of olive oil