Soy Sauce Chicken

A whole chicken poached in soy sauce, Chinese wine,
ginger & sugar sounds so yummy right now.  I made this many years ago when we were in Vegas, but I was not organised enough to freeze the poaching liquid so that I can reuse it.
 I am including the recipe I used from the NYT (Mark Bittman). Some changes I will make to this recipe are adding a tiny bit of Sesame oil, Dried Mushrooms, &  red chili flakes.  Not being fans of Anise we will skip the star anise pods.

(note  we added A bit of Mushroom oyster sauce, a ton of Garlic & some Rice Wine Vinegar)

Sammo

Recipe of the Day: Soy-Poached Roast Chicken

By MARK BITTMAN

This is the antithesis of the usual poached chicken, in which all the bird’s flavor leaches into the cooking liquid. Instead, the meat takes on a powerfully complex taste from the seasonings.

Soy-Poached Roast Chicken

Yield 4 servings

Time 40 minutes

Mark Bittman

Summary

You can serve the chicken straight out of the stockpot with the liquid as a sauce, but I like to finish it in a hot oven, where it develops a crispy, dark brown crust that takes roast chicken to another level.

Ingredients

• 3 cups mushroom-flavored soy sauce, or any dark soy sauce
• 3 cups mei kuei lu chiew or any floral off-dry white wine, like gewurztraminer or muscat
• 2 star anise
• 1 14-ounce box yellow rock sugar, crushed, or 1 cup white sugar
• 3 ounces ginger (about a 5-inch knob), cut into slices and bruised with side of knife
• 10 scallions
• 1 chicken, 2 1/2 to 3 pounds

Method

• 1. In stockpot or narrow 6-quart pot, combine soy sauce, rice wine, 2 cups water, star anise, sugar and ginger. Bring to rolling boil. Add 6 scallions. Lower chicken gently and slowly into liquid, breast side down.
• 2. Bring back to boil, and cook steadily for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, and turn chicken over. Let sit in hot liquid 15 minutes.
• 3. Meanwhile, trim and mince remaining scallions and preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• 4. Carefully remove chicken from liquid, and put in skillet or roasting pan. Roast 5 minutes, or until nicely browned; keep an eye on it -- it can burn easily. Meanwhile, reheat liquid. When chicken is ready, carve and serve with a few spoonfuls of sauce over it. Put minced scallions into a cup of sauce; pass at table to go over white rice.
• Note: You can reuse the liquid -- it improves with each use -- although I would strain it and replace the ginger, scallions and star anise each time, adding extra liquid. I also recommend freezing it between uses, or refrigerating it and bringing it to a rolling boil every few days.

Source: The New York Times