I’ve always wanted to experiment with paper baking. The difference between baking and grilling is that baking keeps the moisture and aromas better. This is especially true for dishes seasoned with wine. Anyone who thinks that bay leaves have mild flavours and tries baking with bay leaves wrapped inside will realise that this herb can give off a very strong and unpleasant smell if you manage to seal everything in during the baking process. Used in moderation, all seasonings and condiments attain peak performance when used for baking.

Here’s my paper baked chicken using breast meat which is notoriously dry.

The first step is to prepare the marinate. I’ve got garlic, ginger, sweet sauce, black pepper, oyster sauce, cornstarch.

The chicken is added. This is when I pour in some hua diao wine and let the marinate sit for an hour or so in the refrigerator.

Ready for the oven. After marinating for an hour, the chicken cubes are placed on baking paper and folded. The wrapped chicken is allowed to bake for 30 minutes at about 220 deg C.

Fresh from the oven and steaming hot. There was quite a bit of leakage, so layer of aluminium foil might have helped.

I love the way the fragrance of the wine is kept. Even though it’s chicken breast, the meat was not dry. Perhaps it could have been even tastier if the cubes were cut smaller and some chilli oil to add some kick to it. Do try this at home. The kids will love it.