Peking Glazed Beer Butt Chicken is melt in your mouth tender and is just like eating succulent Peking duck without going through all the fuss.
Why you are going to love our Peking Glazed Beer Butt Chicken
Crispy sweet and savory skin and the chicken meat was so tender it was falling off the bone. This is one finger licking delicious bite of deliciousness. If you have a crew, you might consider doing 2 chickens on the grill as this recipe is a huge crowd pleaser.
Chilling and Grilling
There is just something about cooking out on the grill that makes everything taste better and makes cooking more fun. There is less cleanup. People like to hang outside with you when you cook on the grill and socialize. However, our favorite reason is we like to grill with beer and wine and sometimes we put it in our food too. If you are looking for more delicious grilling and chilling recipes, be sure to checkout our Summer Grilling and Chilling Recipes.
We have made beer butt chicken probably hundreds of times when we resided in the States. We love to cook out on the gas grill all year around, even when I had to shovel a snow path out to the grill. However, our grilling experience out on the balcony here in Hong Kong, started out with a rocky start.
You know there is an old saying that you should never put cheap alcohol such as beer or wine in your food that you would not drink to enjoy. We thought, when we were in a rush at the local park n shop grocery store, we had grabbed a 6 pack of Tsingtao Chinese beer. You know the one with the green label and without your reader glasses must look identical to cheap look-alike Kingway lager.
We have to take back that old saying as that $4.00 HKD/a can ( about .50cents USD) of cheap Shenzen Kingway Brewery ” Kingway Lager beer was just the perfect addition for my Peking glazed beer butt chicken.
We cleaned the whole chicken very well and made a little pouch between the breast meat and the skin and stuffed it with butter and herbs and rubbed the whole bird with olive oil, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic and paprika. We then drank half of that cheap Kingway lager and added some garlic, ginger, peppercorns and Sichuan peppercorns directly into the beer can.
With a little help, we crammed this half filled Asian spiced beer can in this little birds bottom and put her on the grill to slow roast. (We thought this little picture might make you chuckle a bit, so we hope you are smiling along with us now)
We sat on the balcony enjoying my million dollar view of the Victoria Harbor enjoying our cheap Kingsway beers when this brilliant idea came upon us.
If we are going to be in China, drinking cheap beer looking over the Hong Kong harbor, then we should make Asian Fusion bird on the grill. We basted our chicken with the pan juices every few minutes. We cooked the whole chicken over a low and slow grill for about 2 hours while we brainstormed for an idea.
Inspiration for our Peking Glazed Beer Butt Chicken
Have any of you ever been to Hong Kong? If so, maybe one thing that you remember is all of the restaurants with roasted ducks hanging in the window. We thought to ourself this bird is not a duck but we have every flavor we needed to make that dark rich glaze.
We started with a little oil in a frying pan, adding garlic, ginger, then a little dark soya sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce and 5 spice powder and cooked it gently until it had a thick caramelized glaze. We then slathered this 5 spice glaze all over our bird about every 10 minutes during the last few minutes of the grilling. Gorgeous dark glaze and the aroma filled our home with delicious flavors.
If you are diabetic or gluten intolerant, we have you covered with some simple substitutes that are equally delicious, read the recipe below for details.
Our only regret that we would have done differently is that we should have made at least two whole chickens. We did buy extra drumsticks and placed them in the bottom of the pan with the bird that were really delicious but was still not enough. There was not a scrap left, not even one little drumstick for a midnight snack.
Delicious sides to go with your Peking Glazed Beer Butt Chicken
Super Easy Grilled Asian Eggplant
Spicy Garlic Cucumber Refrigerator Pickles
Grilled Nectarines with Coconut Cream
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Peking Glazed Beer Butt Chicken
Ingredients
- 5 pounds whole roasting chicken
- 1 can beer
of your favorite beer (whatever you like to drink when you are out grilling) If you are gluten intolerant substitute with a dry ginger-ale. - 2 tbsp butter
or dairy free margarine in needed - salt and black pepper
to taste - 1 tsp paprika
- 4 cloves garlic
minced ( 2 cloves to rub the outside of chicken, 1 clove to put in the beer can, 1 clove for the Peking glaze - 2 tsp ginger
( 1/2 teaspoon to rub the outside of the chicken, 1/2 teaspoon to go inside the beer can and 1 teaspoon for the Peking glaz - 2 tbsp olive oil
(1 tablespoon to rub the outside of the chicken and 1 tablespoon for the Peking glaze) - 1/2 tsp peppercorns
whole - 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
whole - 1/4 cup hoisin dipping sauce (if diabetic or gluten intolerant can substitute with sugar free plum jam)
- 1/8 cup tamari (soy) sauce (dark soya sauce is preferable in this dish to give that dark beautiful color to the glaze)
- 1/8 cup oyster sauce
(if you are gluten intolerant, omit and increase amount of tamari sauce) - 1 tsp five spice powder
- 1 tbsp honey (can substitute sugar alternative)
Instructions
- Wash and scrub the outside and inside of the whole chicken really well. Remove giblets and extra parts from the inside cavity. I usually soak to clean my bird for about 20 minutes and flush the inside cavity out really well. Consider making 2 chickens if you want leftovers.
- Preheat your gas or charcoal grill to a very low setting about 200-250 degrees F (93 Celsius). If you do not have a grill then you can make this in your oven preheat your oven to about 190 Celsius or 375 F)
- Make the herbed butter mixture. In a small bowl place butter, salt and pepper, garlic, ginger and a dash of paprika. Mix to combine and set aside. Set aside in a clean bowl the remaining chopped garlic and ginger and spices for later use.
- Rub your fingers on the inside of the chicken between the breast meat and the skin to make a pocket to place the butter herbed mixture. Stuff the butter herbed mixture with your fingers into each side of the breast and flatten and smooth with your fingers.
- Season the chicken well on the inside of bird with salt and pepper. Take a little olive oil, garlic and ginger on your hands and massage your chicken well all over. Season the outside of the chicken with salt, pepper and paprika.
- Open your can of beer, either drink half or pour out half. Add garlic, ginger, peppercorns and Sichuan peppercorns. The beer will fizz and bubble. Push the opened end of the beer can first into the bottom of the chicken (chicken's butt) and set the chicken into a aluminum disposable baking tray. Make sure that the beer can is deep into the cavity of chicken so that it sets stable and upright on the aluminum pan. Wash you hands and everything that came in contact with the chicken very well.
- Make your Peking glaze: In a small frying pan, add olive, garlic and ginger and fry until it becomes aromatic. Add hoisin sauce, soya sauce, oyster sauce, honey and Chinese five spice. If gluten intolerant or diabetic please read my substitution suggestion in the recipe ingredient list. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes until thick and caramelized. Set aside.
- Place the chicken on the grill and carefully cover the lid of the grill. Cook the chicken low and slow. Enjoy a beer or a ginger-ale and baste the chicken every 10-15 minutes during the cooking process. About 3/4 of the time in your cooking process, start brushing your chicken all over with your thick and delicious Peking sauce every 10 minutes until done. I brushed my bird twice all over before taking my chicken off the BBQ grill. Your goal is to have the temperature with your meat thermometer read at least 165 degrees F in the meaty park of the thigh, or until all the juices run clear. Depending on the size of your chicken (about 5 pounds) took about 2 hours on the grill.
- Let your chicken rest for about 10 minutes. Lay your chicken on its side and carefully remove the beer can from the bottom of chicken. A pair of tongs, a fork and a second pair of hands is helpful.
- Place your Peking Glazed beer butt chicken on a carving board and cut into servings and enjoy this delightful fall of the bone tender and delightful, crispy skinned and saucy Peking style beer butt chicken. If you happen to have little Peking Chinese pancakes and sliced spring onions and hoisin sauce this would be fantastic to serve up just like Peking duck. Otherwise just delicious as it is with a side a rice and Chinese veggies like baby bok choy or snow peas.
We love beer can chicken! I bought a stand just for it. Sometimes the can is a little rocky and I worry about a beautiful bird tipping over. I wonder if it is hard to find on your end of the world though. I bet your neighbors could smell that chicken roasting and were drooling! It looks incredible, too.
Hello Ashley, In my end of the world you just have to make do.. LOL. However, if you cram the little beer can deep enough into the cavity of the chicken it will balance well. We cannot have a charcoal grill but can have a gas grill on the balconies here in Hong Kong so that is great. We love cooking out and in the evenings when the sun is settings, we have the best view. Happy weekend to you. BAM
Bam, this is an incredible recipe that you have created on the hoof. It must have been that cheap beer that gave you the inspiration.
Loving the views of Victoria Harbour, are we going to get views with every post?
Dave.
Hello Dave, it was most certainly had to be that cheap Shenzen beer that was responsible for my inspiration, what else could it possibly be? I would love to give a view of the harbor with many posts but as you know sometimes that whole lighting thing can be a problem. Dave do you ever have flight routes to Hong Kong? Happy flying and cooking to you. Take care, BAM
Not the most elegant of preparations, but the end result looks absolutely delicious 🙂
Glad I made you laugh… and you bet it is not the most elegant of preparations, but once you get past the concept of cramming a beer into this little birds bottom, the taste, moistness and flavor are really hard to beat. Take Care, BAM
Looks wonderful and reminds me of the wonderful smells of summer!
Beer and poultry go so well together, and the glaze on that chicken… looks incredible!
When we lived in Santo Domingo we used to go to a restaurant that served Peking chicken. Yours looks a whole lot like it and I know it must be delicious.
It sounds like you had a lot of fun here – using the “butt” liberably 🙂 Looking good, and just shows what you can do with limited space like your balcony !
I am glad I could bring a little fun to your day. Living in HK is all about small spaces and making the most of it.
Spectacular!!!!!! I can see this being a big hit. Your pictures popped into my mouth 🙂
I absolutely love all the ingredients. Looks absolutely delicious Bam!!
Thank you very much. If the boys had left some, I would pass some over to you but they did not leave a scrap, not even a little chicken leg for a midnight snack. The weekend is supposed to be nice maybe I will through a couple of chickens on the BBQ.
Yummy!!!!
What a delicious looking glaze!
I bet this glaze would be good on many other things like turkey and pork as well.
I know I sound childish but I find those photos of the chicken sitting up quite funny…and delicious too of course! Would dig in in an instant!
Hello Jenny, I am so happy to hear I brought a little smile to your face and actually during my whole 2 hours of basting this bird it made me chuckle too. Happy cooking, BAM
For a while I was trying to figure out how you managed to grill a whole chicken in HK then you noticed it was done on a gas grill in balcony. Brilliant idea! I should probably consider that if I move into an apt with a balcony. Back to your chicken, your glaze is one of the most irresistible things I’ve seen in a while. The Peking chicken idea is absolutely fantastic. I actually have all the tools and ingredients (minus the Kingway beer part as it would be an expensive imported beer here in NYC) available so I can’t wait until this weekend!! Thanks for sharing it.
Hello Yi,
Can you have a gas grill on a balcony in NYC? We cannot have a charcoal grill on the balcony in HK but can have a gas grill. This bird can also be cooked with the same method in the oven, if a grill is not available. Yi you really made me smile when you said that that Kingway special would be an expensive import. Another bit of humor for you went to a local restaurant in Foshan, China the other day. I ordered a bottle of beer and I asked what kind they said it was their local brand. Take a wild guess what fancy beer they brought to the table, “pabst blue ribbon” (PBR) I was kind of shocked they didn’t even serve it in a paper bag. LOL.. Happy cooking to you, BAM
Oh my goodness doesn’t this chicken look incredibly tasty!!!
Thanks Kristi, we are supposed to have some nice weather this weekend so thinking about making it again for my boys.
Bam, where was my invitation!!! WOW, seriously I want to eat this and all I will be thinking from now on is this delicious peking duck… Looks so good that it made me drool. I want to make this!
Arigato gozarimashita! Nami-san, The invite is always open. There is always room for more at Healthy World Cuisine table. I think your hubby might quite like this dish. Ja Mata, BAM
This looks absolutely incredible – totally appetizing!
I am glad you like it. It is so easy to make either on top of the grill or even in an oven. Take Care, BAM
Wow! That glaze looks delicious – it makes me want to lick the chicken and then my fingers after eating the chicken (is that weird haha? I am really just thinking out loud 🙂 ).
I think it is quite alright, I have been known to want to lick the computer screen when you make some of your delicious recipes, but it does not quite taste the same. This dish really is finger licking good and you might might to serve with lots of extra napkins. Take care, BAM
I just love the colour on the chicken. Simply gorgeous and with all those exotic flavours I can imagine a very tasty bird. I love grilling too and great for socialising. I have made 7 Up chicken since we don’t drink, but ginger ale idea is great. I am going to try this with ginger ale and glaze and all.
Nazneen
Hello Nazeen, I really do like the ginger-ale as it goes nicely with the Asian Spices. Thank you so much for your kind comment. Grilling out is really a fun social event and it also gets everyone a chance to be part of the action. Take Care, BAM
Oh, my gosh, that basting glaze sounds terrific! I need to try this with my next beer can chicken (that is, when the snow disappears!!!).
Hello Liz, sending some warm breezes from Hong Kong your way. I am glad you liked the glaze, it really is finger looking good. Take Care, BAM
That is one very happy looking chicken, and why wouldn’t it be with all that loving attention, some beer and Chinese Five Spice? This is one of those times I wish I had smell-o-vision on the blog…this chicken just has to be terrifically good. I love your new recipe feature on the site with the little added thumbtack and coffee stain, BAM. I’m not getting replies to comments unless I get everyone’s reply now. Maybe that’s just the way it is on the new format?
Hello Betsy, If you and I invented smell-o-vision, I am certain we could quit our day jobs and it would be a great widget app to add to our sites. Thank you so much four your kind comment and glad you are liking the new site format. It is a work in progress. I am so glad you brought the fact that you are not receiving my comments. There are many reasons why this can happen. When I moved to a self hosted site I am no longer linked to wordpress so you will not see my responses in the top right hand bubble on your screen. However, when you place a comment you can click the box that says inform me of follow up comments and then you will get this by e-mail. I read each and everyone of your messages and I am sorry you have not seen my responses, so I will try to followup by e-mail when I can. Take care, BAM
Hmmmm. I’ll have to work on that smell-o-vision invention! I’m clicking the button from now on, thanks! I appreciate your willingness to follow up, but also appreciate the time that takes. Hopefully my clicking will be the fix. Happy Weekend!
Hello Betsy, I guess we better start working on our blueprints now. Thanks for helping me trouble shoot through this new self hosting process. Always learning something new. Happy weekend to you too. BAM
Just look at this chicken. I wish I could eat this right through the screen. I love this Bam
Thank you Kay… maybe you can join Betsy and I as we are going to try to create smell-o-vision and quite our day jobs. Talk about the coolest widget and phone app ever invented. LOL When the weather breaks I hope you will this a try. Take care, BAM
What an hilarious picture your chicken makes. Beer chicken is awesome and I loooove those spices !
Hello Carolyn, so glad I could make you laugh. He looks like a little solder standing at attention.
This looks simply amazing. I could not take my eyes off that chicken…
Thanks so much. I am glad I could get a few photos before the boys inhaled the bird. Take Care, BAM
I havent tried this techique before but Ive seen them in some barbecue parties here. I guess its worth a try specially with that sauce of yours
Hello Ray, Do you have a BBQ grill? If no grill, you could do this in your oven as well. I think you will really like the Asian flavors in this glaze. Take care, BAM
Wow! Those pictures are just mouthwatering.Haven’t had Peking duck but I am sure it would be just as succulent as you have described.
Thank you very much. Peking duck traditionally served in China is very tender and usually the skin is crispy and the meat is succulent and they serve the duck with the little Chinese pancakes (which are of course full of gluten) and a side of scallions and plum sauce. I decided to take that concept and glaze my bird with these flavors instead. I hope you might try it with the gluten free alternatives in the recipe. Happy Cooking, BAM
I’ve been eyeing this bird all over Facebook:D I have made beer can chicken before and I have to say you’ve easily outdone my recipe! I love the rich color, the beautiful glaze is just outstanding! This must have tasted out of this world!! xx
Thanks Smidge, welcome back from your holiday. I think between all of foodie friends we have made beer butt chicken at least one million times, at least. However, living in Hong Kong has really opened up my eyes to some new flavors, spices and cooking methods. When you have ducks hanging in almost every restaurant window it gets you thinking…I am glad you liked it and maybe when the kids are back from college and you are not plowing a path to the grill you can give it a go. Take Care, BAM
OK, began smiling when past the first few lines, was roaring by the middle and absolutely set to copy by the end! Thank you for having made my day BAM – this I’ll enjoy both making and eating and the in-betweens, tho’ the good old Aussie beer will go into the chicken and the better still wine into me 🙂 !
Thank you Eha. I am so happy to hear I brought a smile to your face today. I would definitely stick with a good Aussie beer as that cheap Shenzhen beer is not my idea of the beer of champions. LOL Happy Cooking to you. BAM