Airfryer (Philips Airfryer!),  Chicken,  One-dish Meals,  Under $2

Airfried Rosemary Spring Chicken

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I guess it is time to admit that despite owning (and loving!) my airfryer for the longest time, I have NEVER cooked a whole chicken in it before. (I use the normal size 1st generation 9220 Philips Airfryer if you wish to know.)

I always roast chicken using the oven because although it take a long time (at least an hour even for spring chickens), it is quite idiot proof and I don’t have to worry about it burning/turning out uncooked/unedible because I cook it in there ALL THE TIME. Old habits die hard, I guess, and I am resistant to change in this sense (or am just lazy to figure out another way, really). “Why take chance?” I say to myself each time <-- this isn't really me too. I don't know who's taking over my keyboard. There's also supposed to be a full stop there after "time" and I just don't feel like placing it there today. Maybe I just feel like rebelling against my day job as an editor. I'm gonna write run-ons and make no sense at all in all my other writing. Like now. (p/s- any spelling and punctuation mistakes you see in this post are uh, totally intentional.) I "don't usually" break rules as you can tell, or if you know me well.

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So why airfry the chicken this time, then? I wouldn’t have, if not for the fact that the oven was in use FOR A GREATER GOOD at around dinner time. I was baking a glorious chocolate chip butter pound cake to satisfy my own cravings.

You see, for (really, really) unfortunate #swaymax reasons, I have been grounded the past week. I cannot go to the office (but still have to work from home thank you very much). I cannot go out. I cannot go ANYWHERE. AND I WANTED TO EAT CAKE. My cake withdrawal symptoms were so severe, I told the girls I reallyyyy HAD TO EAT CAKE at 5.30pm and started baking at 5.32pm, never mind that it was almost dinner time. To achieve your goals, they say, you have to take chances. Go all out. Oh and here’s the cake by the way.

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The baking wasn’t about to be done until 6.55pm. I couldn’t afford another hour from 6.55pm for the roast chicken to cook in the oven. I did the next logical thing. Airfry the bugger. I was hesitant. I mean, I had my chocolate chip butter pound cake, but Ah-mm and 88 and the husband needed to eat right? And my loyal airfryer has never failed me before.

And was I glad I took the plunge. The spring chicken cooked beautifully in the airfryer. The skin, the CRISPIEST it’s EVER turned out. The meat, moist and juicy and tear-apart tender. The cooking time was shortened by half. There is no way I will cook spring chicken any other way again.

The marinade is really simple. Just rub some salt, oyster sauce (I know, I know, but I like the savoury-ness and colour oyster sauce it lends to roast chicken), rosemary and black pepper all over the chicken. The cooking part is even more simple. Airfry for 30 minutes at 180C. And that’s it. I turned it over midway through the cooking time and grilled some bell peppers along with it. I also had some leftover gravy from lunch that I prepared for another dish (HAKKA YTF, if you have to know) which I now added some rosemary to (I’m brilliant), and it went perfectly with the chicken. You can totally leave out the gravy part if you want. More on the Hakka YTF gravy. It’s not as crazy as it seems. I ran out of tau cheo (fermented bean paste) so I left it out, so the gravy was legit enough to be transformed from Chinese-style to “Western”, with a sprinkle of rosemary and a longer cooking time. I let it cook for a bit more over the stove top so that it’ll reduce and the flavour will be more compacted.

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Sorry I don’t have better pictures as the sun was setting and the lighting was terrible. I also don’t have proper lighting equipment for photo taking at dinner time. But I am sure I’ll make this again in broad daylight, maybe over the weekend. So I can have nice pictures to update.

In the meantime, make this airfried chicken! The airfryer rocks. PHEW! That was a long post. I guess I just love story telling!

Airfried Rosemary Spring Chicken
Makes: 3 servings
Total cost per serving: $1.77

What I used:

1 spring chicken (I used an 800g Lebon frozen chicken griller)
1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks and tossed in some olive oil, a pinch of salt and black pepper
2 bayleaves
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoon dried rosemary
A sprinkle of black pepper

For gravy(optional)
1 teaspoon oil for frying
2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoon onion, finely chopped
1.5 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
A sprinkle of rosemary

Steps:
1. Clean and dry the spring chicken and rub salt, oyster sauce, rosemary and black pepper all over. Insert the bayleaves into the cavity. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour to marinate.
2. Preheat airfryer at 180C for 10 minutes. I used the grill pan but you can use the basket.
3. Airfry for 15 minutes on one side. Remove chicken. Line the grill pan with the bell peppers, and place chicken back on the grill pan THE OTHER SIDE UP to continue roasting for the remaining 15 minutes.
4. If you wanna make a simple sauce- totally optional: fry chopped onions and garlic in a little oil, then add chicken stock, oyster sauce and the sprinkle of rosemary. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cook til slightly reduced and add cornstarch solution to thicken.
5. To serve, line bell peppers in a dish and lay chicken on top. Ladle sauce over or serve by the side.

How much I spent:
$2.65 for spring chicken (on promotion 3 for $7.90 from Giant)
$2.75 for bell peppers
Everything else from my pantry

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