Braised Whole Chicken

My folks are here for a week of visiting. i can't help be think that their focus is not the sites that melbourne offers but Avery. i certainly hope that they'd have a good time here despite being stuck at home most of the time (cos BB's resting/sleeping).

I made them braised whole chicken based on (meaning i made some adaptation) my mum-in-law's recipe for dinner. 2nd time doing it but according to The Wife it's as good as her mom's (yipee). i had always preferred braised soy chicken to roast chicken. i remember that my dad used to tabao the Cheung Kee Soy Chicken from Upper Cross Street in Chinatown for dinners. there're 2 shops that sell similar chicken along the street i think. while this is not anywhere near their standards....it's not too bad i reckon.

This recipe serves 4 and takes up at least 50 min to prepare & cook.

ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 chopped onion/ 5 chopped shallots
• 1 chopped chilli
• 5-6 cardamon pods
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• dried orange peel (about 2 x 50 cent size is good)
  
• 5-6 slices of ginger
  
• white pepper (whole) handful (to taste)
• ground pepper
  
• 5-6 cloves of chopped garlic
• dark soy sauce
• light soy sauce
• salt
• sugar
• 1-2 cup water
  
• oil
• hard boiled eggs (optional if you want to make braised eggs)
• taukwah/taupok (optional...darn i wish i had some)
  

recipe
step 1

• scald chicken with boiling water
• rub salt on chicken and marinate whole chicken with pepper, dark soy sauce & light soy sauce
• set aside for at least 30 mins. turning occasionally so that the skin gets the pigment from the sauces.
  

step 2

• fry the chopped onions,/shallots+garlic, ginger until the onions are soft & fragrant. do not brown the onions cos you don't want to have a burnt smell/taste
• add in spices. fry for a short while until you can smell the spices then add half cup water
  
• add dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar to form a thick gravy. stir occasionally. taste if it's ok. it should taste fairy salty but light, with tinge of spiciness
• add marinated chicken to gravy in wok. keep heat at medium
  
• rinse the gravy on chicken occasionally and scoop some spices into the chicken
• close wok and simmer this side of chicken for 5 mins
• after 5 mins turn over and rinse the other side with gravy occasionally and let simmer for 5 mins
• repeat this process for at least 20-30 mins depending on size of chicken. taste gravy and add salt/sugar/dark/light soy sauce to taste. add additional 1/2 - 1 cup water if gravy is drying up. be careful that you do not burn the gravy
• once cooked (use satay stick to poke the thigh/breast area. if no bloody ooze come out then it's cooked but 30 mins is way enuff), cut/chop & serve
  

step 3

• if you r braising eggs, use a toothpick to prick the hardboiled eggs before adding them to gravy
• rinse the eggs with the gravy and turn them around so as to get an even coat of brown
• do the same for the taukwah. make sure that you scald the taupok before adding to the gravy.
  

leftover gravy?
fret not, use it to sirfry veg/ simply drizzle over a plate of dry instant noodles n you've have a wonderful snack!