Mandarin Lacquered Chicken

The components of this sauce meld together in a most delicious way - the soy, vinegar, ginger, and juice become deeply flavored. The cayenne mellows and provides just a bit of gentle heat, and the roasted tangerines are delicious, skin and all. If you must substitute oranges, two large navels will work. Remove the peel with a vegetable peeler and stuff it in the cavity of the chicken. Remove and discard the bitter white pith, then cut into wedges, put a few in the cavity, then scatter the rest in the pan. Serve with rice or rice noodles to dress with the luscious sauce. Green beans, bok choy, or steamed edamame are the perfect vegetable accompaniments. Champagne would not be a bad choice. Adapted from Roasted Orange Chicken from the New York Times.
Roasted Chicken.
Yield 6 servings
Ingredients

6 small mandarins, tangerines or clementines
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cayenne or other hot red ground chile
1 (4-pound) whole chicken
Salt and black pepper
10 slices peeled fresh ginger

1 Heat oven to 400°F.
2 Squeeze 1/4 cup juice from 2 to 3 tangerines into a small bowl; reserve the spent peels. Cut the remaining tangerines into wedges with peels intact, and set aside. Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and cayenne to the tangerine juice and whisk until the sugar dissolves.
3 Generously season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Tuck the wing tips behind the body. Stuff the tangerine peels and 6 ginger slices into the cavity, then tie the legs together using kitchen twine. Place in a large ovenproof skillet, scatter the tangerine wedges and the remaining 4 slices ginger around the chicken.
4 Slowly pour the juice mixture all over the chicken, then slide the skillet into the oven. Roast for 30 minutes.
5 Using a large spoon or baster, quickly and carefully coat the chicken with the pan sauce. Continue roasting, basting every 10 minutes, until the chicken is browned and cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Cover the breast lightly with foil for the last 10 minutes, as it will get very dark (don't worry, it will taste great, not burnt). An instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast should register 155°F and, in the leg, 170°F. The chicken will continue to cook while it rests.
6 Transfer chicken to a cutting board and rest for 5 minutes. If the pan sauce isn't already syrupy, bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Be sure to wear oven mitts or use a kitchen towel to hold the skillet handle. Cook, occasionally stirring until the bubbles grow larger and paler brown and the sauce is the consistency of syrup, about 5 minutes. Discard the ginger.
7 Serve the chicken whole or carved with the glaze poured all over the meat. Arrange the tangerine wedges from the pan around the bird.
notes
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