Sticky ginger roast chicken recipe

1. With poultry shears or a heavy knife, remove the backbone of the chicken and press on the breastbone to flatten the bird. Chop the backbone into pieces and make one cut through to the bone at the meatiest part of each drumstick. Rub both sides of the bird with oil, brown sugar, salt, paprika and cumin and allow to stand for 40 minutes.

2. Heat your oven to 120C. Place the backbone in the base of a roasting tin and place the chicken on top. Roast for 2 hours, basting occasionally. Remove the bird from the oven to rest and increase the heat to 200C on a grill setting, or by simply setting your grill to high.

3. While the chicken is resting, combine the ingredients for the ginger barbecue sauce in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter is melted and the honey dissolved. Add a few tablespoons of the resting juices from the chicken if there are any. Brush the chicken liberally with the barbecue sauce and return to the oven under the grill for 5-10 minutes until the sauce is sticky and caramelised. Serve immediately.

Adam's tip "Butterflying" a whole chicken allows you to crisp more of the skin while also helping the bird to cook a bit faster. The chopped backbone in the pan acts as a trivet, allowing air to circulate under the chicken while adding great flavour to any pan sauces.

Step-by-step: How to butterfly a chicken