TWICE COOKED, TWICE FLAVOUR, CHINESE CHICKEN WITH CHILLI AND SPRING ONION

This bright, colourful, simple Chicken dish has been passed down through my mum’s family. The distinctly asian flavours and aromas are deep, and strong but quite fresh. The dish is simplicity itself to put together and cook. Julienning the ginger and vegetables beforehand will make things easier for you. If you have the time, the only difficult decision you have is whether to take a break from the cooking after the Chicken has braised in the first section of prep and let it marinade for a few hours… though obviously this turns a dish that is quite quick to cook into an all day affair (though you can obviously just leave the chicken marinating and go and do your own thing). Twice cooking the chicken is an important process for the flavours and textures – the first slow braising step imparts rich colour and flavour to the chicken as well as making the flesh succulent and tender. Roasting the chicken after this and basting it gives the chicken an indulgent crispy sticky covering that holds a real flavour punch. Served with fresh tangy spring onions ,spicy chillies and simple boiled rice this dish springs off the plate and into your mouth with a awesome medley of complimenting tastes and textures –

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken:

Small whole chicken
Cup of Water
Cup of chicken stock
3 small yellow onions
4 spring onions
5 garlic cloves, peeled, bruised
6cm piece fresh ginger
3 star anise
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup Chinese rice wine
6 tbsp Light soya
4 tbsp Dark soya sauce
2 long red chilli, thinly sliced
heaped tbsp sesame seeds
Steamed jasmine rice to serve

For the marinade:

1 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon Chang’s sesame oil

For basting:

500ml of Chicken stock.

Preparation Method:

Wash chicken and pat dry skin and body cavity with kitchen paper towel. OR leave to air dry for about 30-40 mins.
Butcher the Chicken into its disassembled pieces – breast, wings and legs and thighs.
Slice the ginger and onion into thin strips around 5-6 cm long.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the ginger and yellow onion until starting to colour. Add half the sliced chilli and fry for around a minute.
Place garlic + chicken pieces in pan in a single layer. Brown on one side, then turn over all the pieces and brown the other side.
Sprinkle rice wine onto chicken and add stock and water into wok with chicken. Then add soya sauce (light and dark), oyster sauce, star anise and the sugar.
Turn heat to medium-low then cover wok and braise chicken until cooked; turning frequently to avoid burning skin. When the liquid in the wok becomes thicker then leave uncovered and continues to cook on low heat and spooning the liquid onto chicken to colour the skin. This gives the chicken a lovely brown colour on the skin and cook the meat in a way which is succulent and tender. It takes appox. 35 mins. to cook the chicken.
At this stage – if you want you can let the dish cool and place into the fridge with all the pan juices for 4hrs (or even up to 12hrs.) – Though it will add flavour to the dish, its not really necessary.
Transfer to a roasting pan, skin side up. Pat dry with paper towel.
Meanwhile, make marinade Combine hoisin sauce, honey, five spice, soy sauce, chilli and sesame oil in a bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon mixture.
Roast for 10 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven. Rotate chicken. Brush chicken with remaining marinade. Cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and dark brown. Baste throughout with chicken stock and any leftover marinade.
Meanwhile toast some sesame seeds in a pan.
Transfer the chicken to a plate. Cover with foil. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
Thinly slice remaining spring onion. Place individual portion of chicken on a plate, sprinkle a pinch of toasted sesame seeds on top. Garnish chicken with spring onion and chilli.
Serve with rice and drizzle over some of the pan juices.