Also called See Yao Gai (豉油鸡) in Cantonese, this is a comforting braised chicken recipe that's easy and super flavourful. While it's usually the whole chicken that's braised in the delicious sauce, for this recipe I've used chicken leg quarters to make it easier, but feel free to use chicken thighs and drumsticks if that's easier to find. It's great served alongside a warm bowl of rice, or in this case, noodles!
ingredients:
- 2 chicken legs quarters
- 30g rock sugar, crushed into smaller pieces
- 4 ginger slices
- 1 shallot, cut into chunks
- 2 garlic bulbs, light smashed
- 3 spring onion, cut into long pieces
- 1 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 2 star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- ½ tbsp oyster sauce
- 1.5 tbsp tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 450 ml water or low sodium chicken broth
- Corn-starch slurry - 1 tbsp water + 1/2 tbsp corn starch
Extras:
- 1 boiled egg
- around 200g thin egg noodles
- Pak Choi - blanched in boiling water
method:
- Marinate the chicken legs - In a bowl, add your chicken leg quarters and coat it in 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp Shaoxing wine and a dash of white pepper. Give it a good mix and let it sit for around 10 minutes.
- Brown the chicken legs - In a wok over medium heat, add around 1/2 tbsp of oil and crushed rock sugar. Let it melt and caramelise before adding in the chicken legs, skin side down. Let the skin brown - around 3 minutes, before removing from the wok, leaving behind any sauce or liquid.
- Preparing the braising liquid - In the same wok, add in the garlic, spring onions, ginger and let it get aromatic - around a minute, before adding in the spices and giving everything a mix. Then pour in all of the sauces and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Braise the chicken legs - Once the liquid is boiling, add the browned chicken legs back into the wok, skin side down, reduce the heat down to a simmer - the braising liquid should be able to almost cover the chicken. Cover and cook for around 35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through, making sure to flip the chicken halfway.
- Thicken the sauce - Once cooked, remove the chicken legs and let them rest for around 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle. While that's resting, remove the aromatics and spices from the braising liquid - you can strain it into another pot if that's easier - then stir in the corn starch slurry until the mixture has thickened slightly before removing from the heat.
- Slice the chicken - When the chicken has cooled a bit, debone and slice into pieces, alternatively you can also shred the chicken or just serve as is.
- Serve the chicken - In a bowl, add around 2 tbsp of the braising liquid into the bottom before adding your cooked noodles and toss it in the sauce. Top with cooked veggies of your choice, a boiled egg and the sliced soy sauce chicken. Top with more braising liquid or chilli oil.
notes:
- You can keep the braising liquid in a container and in the fridge up to 5 days or in the freezer. It can be kept longer however it needs to be brought to a rolling boil and looked after properly, especially if you're going to be boiling a new protein in it.
