Roasted Cornish Hen

Recipe is from Christine Tran - Asian Home Cooking (Facebook)

Ingredients:
- One thawed cornish hen (~22oz.)
- 1 tsp Ngu Vi Huong (Asian five spice powder)
- 2 tbsp nuoc mam
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (not Maggi seasoning)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp of crushed red pepper (if you like a little spice)
- 1/2 tsp of black pepper (ground)
- 3-4 stalks of green onion (mince the white part for the marinade and chop the green/leafy portion to mix with the oil)
- 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 can of Coco Rico (or Fresca)

Marinade:
Mix the Ngu Vi Huong, Nuoc Mam, Soy Sauce, Sugar, Crushed Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Green Onion (minced white portion only), and Garlic in a bag and mix it together by squeezing/pinching the bag. Add your cleaned cornish hen to the bag and mix it so there is good coverage all around the hen. I split the cornish hen in half since my husband and I share one cornish hen. Put the hen in the bag into a bowl to marinate for at least an hour (overnight is ok, but just use less nuoc mam if you do it overnight). For the best results, stab your hen to a second death with a knife or fork so that the marinade can sink into the meat.

Cooking:
Pre-heat your oven or toaster oven to 375 degrees.

In a scorching hot pan, add a little oil (about 2 tbsp) and add your hen. Leave the hen to sear on each side for about four minutes. Once it has seared on each side, put it on a lined sheet and pop it in the oven. Keep the heat on in your pan and add the rest of the marinade along with the 1/4 can of Coco Rico and allow it to boil until the marinade begins to carmelize. Once it starts to turn a darker brown color (just a few minutes!), remove it from the heat and keep it in a glass bowl to baste the hen while it's in the oven.

I use my toaster oven on the "CONVECTION BAKE" option and it's perfectly cooked at 25 minutes. Time may vary depending on how many cornish hen you're cooking and your oven. I'd say probably 35-40 minutes if you're using a regular (big) oven. A toaster oven takes less time because the heat circulates in a small space and the meat is close to the heating element. You'll want to periodically baste the hen.

Serve it over white rice or you can mix some of the rice with a bit of the reserved, cooked marinade (just a little because it should be a little salty).

Another way to cook the rice (which I didn't do today because my husband wanted a fried egg) is to make egg-rice. I normally take rice and add it to my frying pan and make a hole in the center to crack two eggs. I add a small tsp of the cooked marinade into the egg and scramble them inside the frying pan, mixing the rice in as I go.