Rich Aroma Chicken Pieces
A classic Zhejiang specialty: tender chicken slowly braised in a clay pot over low heat for 8 hours, yielding fall-off-the-bone meat in a thick, richly aromatic sauce.
Ingredients
Tender hen (deboned—remove leg and wing bones; discard head, feet, and neck; chopped into 4 cm pieces)
1 (about 1250 g)
Rehydrated shiitake mushrooms (placed on top of the chicken pieces)
25 g
Fine salt
2 g
MSG
2.5 g
Sugar
25 g
Garlic cloves
5 cloves
White pepper powder
25 g
Soy sauce
50 g
Shaoxing wine
150 g
Sesame oil
15 g
Scallion whites
10 g
Ginger slices (lined at pot bottom)
20 g
Instructions
1
Preparing the chicken
Slaughter the chicken, debone it (remove the leg and wing bones), and discard the head, feet, and neck. Then chop the chicken into 4 cm pieces and blanch in boiling water.
2
Initial searing
Place the chicken pieces in a clay pot, add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar, and 300 g of water. Bring to a boil over high heat until the chicken turns pale yellow, then remove from heat and set aside.
3
Arranging in the pot
Prepare a small clay pot, lining the bottom with ginger slices, then scallion whites. Arrange the chicken pieces on top with the skin facing up, and cover with the shiitake mushrooms and garlic cloves.
4
Pouring sauce and sealing
Add Shaoxing wine, sugar, MSG, sesame oil, and white pepper to the sauce in the wok, then pour everything over the chicken pieces. Cover with a plate, then put on the clay pot lid, and seal the rim with wet flour paste.
5
Slow simmering
Simmer over low heat for 8 hours. Remove the plate from inside the pot before serving.
