The week before Chinese New Year, Chef E decided to gift my family one evening with Birdzilla, a hefty specimen initially mistaken for a small turkey.
Having opted to get an early start on a good night's rest, I half-awoke to frantic knocking on my door and heard the words "there's a big chicken outside! Kitchen area!" Hence the thought that Metro Manila was being ravaged by a supersized version of Gallus domesticus. Confronted with the still-frozen beast, I did the first thing that came naturally: put it in a bag and into the freezer. Before I was allowed to go back to sleep however, I was told to decide what to do with the poultry.
The debate: cut it into smaller pieces and fry it (my thought: what a waste!), adobo (sure, but still...how often do you encounter poultry this size?), grill (risk burning it?! no!!!!) and the last: roast it (while consulting my favorite cookbook found in a second-hand shop in Bangkal, Makati). And seconds after the recipe was approved, a comment from the Asian Food Channel viewer: "what. no lemons? Jamie Oliver puts lemons in his roast chicken."
After consulting with Lori (who recommended that I stuff TWO lemons in the bird's cavity & grate the zest on the bird prior to roasting), I marinated the bird with salt and pepper, reviewed a few other recipes online (and watched the Alton Brown roast chicken episode), gathered/borrowed the equipment, got my ingredients together, and...(after many hours roasting at temperatures hovering around 400 degrees). My Home Ec teacher would definitely wonder what got into me (I was definitely a middling student who wanted to be in the school paper more than the high school home economics club).
We ate chicken for next few days. I swear, just carving off one thigh, drumstick and one breast was already equivalent to one of those "little" rotisserie chickens. Chef E was pretty generous in praising the result (he liked the tarragon, which was part of the Union Square recipe for herbed roasted chicken). If I ever get to tackle jumbo chicken again, I'm going to try "butterfly-style."
The verdict: it really takes a village to roast Birdzilla.
If you have extra boxes and packing tape lying around at home, do bring them along.
