Spicy Roasted Cornish Hen with Asian Flavors

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup tamari
• 1/2 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup sake, ozeki platinum
• 3 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 4 large cloves garlic, grated
• 1 Tbs. grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. sambal oelek
• One 1-1/4 lb. to 1-1/2 lb. Cornish game hen
• 8 oz. baby bok choy, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1-1/2 tsp. peanut oil
• Kosher salt
• 6 oz. garnet yam, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1-1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
• One medium If You Care Non-Stick Parchment Roasting Bag
• 1 tsp. sesame oil, for drizzling
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• Cooked rice, optional

Directions

1. Use a medium bowl for the tamari, mirin, and sake; add the sugar, garlic, ginger, and sambal oelek, and stir until the sugar disappears. Tie the hen’s legs together with unbleached cotton kitchen twine, then tuck the wings underneath the bird. Set the hen in a gallon zip-top bag, pour in 3/4 cup of the marinade, close the bag, and press out as much trapped air as you can. Nestle the bag in a medium bowl and chill it for 6 hours, or as long as overnight, turning the hen now and then so the marinade reaches all sides. Cover the extra marinade and keep it in the refrigerator.
2. Set an oven rack in the middle position and warm the oven to 350°F.
3. Set a medium-mesh strainer over a small saucepan and pour the reserved marinade through it, stirring to coax the liquid into the pan; keep the garlic-ginger solids in the strainer for later. Over high heat, let the marinade reach a boil, then turn the burner down to low. Stir the cornstarch and 1-1/2 Tbs. water together in a small bowl until smooth, then whisk that slurry into the saucepan. Let it cook until the sauce has tightened up, 4 to 5 minutes, and take it off to cool.
4. Add the bok choy to a medium bowl along with 1-1/2 Tbs. of the strained garlic-ginger solids, 1 tsp. peanut oil, and 1/2 tsp. salt, then toss until coated. Place the roasting bag on a large rimmed baking sheet with the seam facing up, then mound the bok choy in the center. In that same bowl, add the yam, the 1/2 tsp. peanut oil that remains, and a pinch of salt; toss to coat. Scatter the yam over the bok choy.
5. Take the hen out of its marinade and let the extra drip back. Arrange it over the yam, breast side up. Close the bag’s open end by folding it firmly toward the top as many times as you can, stopping when the bag sits close around everything inside. Roast for 25 minutes.
6. With care, slice open the top of the bag along the seam and pull the parchment away so the hen is uncovered. Brush some cooked marinade over the bird. Swipe the vegetables with whatever marinade is still clinging to the brush, slide the pan back into the oven, and continue roasting for 20 to 25 minutes more; during that stretch, baste 1 time. It is ready when a digital thermometer placed in the hen reads 165°F.
7. Give the hen 5 minutes to settle, then move it to a plate with the vegetables. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil, sprinkle on the scallion, and serve.