Braised Soy Sauce Chicken Over Rice

Two ways to enjoy this chicken over rice meal, one you can leave the chicken leg as it is and dive into chewing the meat off the bones. Then there's a more elegant way but of course leaving most of the deboning work to the person who's cooking it.

Being a nice cook here, I've decided to pick out all the bones after braising the chicken legs, so whoever's eating it can save the hassles and enjoy mouthful of meat all the way through.

Braised soy sauce chicken over rice -

Ingredients (about 4 to 6 bowls)?

• 4 or about 1200 grams chicken legs
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 stalks scallion

Actual cooking:

• 2 to 3 tablespoons preferred cooking oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 bulbs shallots (about 1/3 cup peeled and chopped)
• 2 slices ginger
• 2 stalks scallion
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
• 1/4 cup aged Shaoxing wine
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 star anises
• 1 aged tangerine peel
• 1 teaspoon rock sugar
• 4 to 6 portions cooked rice
• 1 pack bok choy
• 1 pinch salt 

 

How?

Marinate the chicken legs with 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 6 peeled garlic cloves, and 2 stalks of destemed and sectioned scallion. Massage the sauce into the meat then let it marinate in the fridge overnight.

Remember to flip the chicken legs to the other side half way through.

Cook the rice when close to serving time, I prepped some quinoa white rice for extra nutrition boost.

For the braising part, peel 2 extra garlic cloves, destem and section 2 more stalks of scallion. However, do chop or slice some scallion greens diagonally for garnish in the end. Scrape the skin off the ginger then slice to about 2mm thickness pieces, we need 2 slices here. Peel and chop the shallots.

Bring out a big pot, drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of preferred cooking oil and switch to medium heat. Add in garlic, shallot, ginger, and scallion sections. Sear till aromatic but not burnt.

Move the aromatics aside and transfer marinated chicken legs over skin side down first. Just the chicken legs, in which we will add the marinade later. Once the skin gets that slightly browned sear, flip and cook the other side till colored again.

Pour in all the remaining marinade along with the ingredients inside. Also add additional seasonings over, that means 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of dark soy sauce, 1/4 cup of aged Shaoxing wine, 2 star anises, 1 aged tangerine peel, and 1 1/2 cups of water.

Bring to a boil then adjust the heat to keep it at a medium bubbling stage. Continue to braise for about 20 minutes. Remember to flip the chicken half way through.

Towards the end, add 1 teaspoon of rock sugar and cook till all melted and blended evenly with the sauce.

While braising the chicken, let's prep the veggies. Have a medium pot filled with water. Bring to a boil then add in one pinch of salt. Add in trimmed bok choy and cook for just about one minute. Drain and set aside for later use.

If you want to be more professional or looking for that perfect way of prepping the bok choy, go ahead and dump the cooked leafy greens in icy cold drinkable water. Quickly cool down the temperature in order to better keeping that vibrant green color. As for me? Nah.

So when the chicken is ready, remove the chicken and set side to cool off. When cool enough to handle by hand, pick out the meat and tear to threads. I actually chew on the leftover bones as my reward for cooking this meal. Some might not know, but the meat close to the bones tastes really delicious.

As for the remaining braise, drain and keep the sauce. You'll use it to drizzle all over the rice bowls. And if there's any leftover sauce, use it for future meals such as base sauce for dry noodles.

Scoop some rice to serving bowls, arrange bok choy around it, then add shredded chicken in the center. Drizzle braised sauce all over and garnish with scallion greens we saved earlier.

I didn't realize how much meat I can get from 4 big chicken legs. Thought that skin and bones occupy a huge portion of it. But ended up I got so much meat, more than enough for 4 to 6 portions.

Of course you can braise 2 chicken legs instead, but considering all the work and time involved, if let me choose again I'll still go for bigger portion. The most I'll just store cooked meat in the freezer right?

Extended reading:

• Spicy gochujang chicken rice bowls

Japanese Pickled Napa Cabbage with Shio Kombu 白菜漬け

Sometimes when you get a Japanese meal set, on top of the main dish, there are usually couple more side dishes plus a bowl of miso soup to go with it. And among many common side dishes, you'll often see a lighter colored pickled napa cabbage.

Usually lighter than the version I made here. However, the basic ingredients are the same, I'm guessing it's either the Japanese tsuyu used or the shio kombu, or even longer marinate time that caused the slightly darker version. Put the color aside though, the taste is equally good.

Japanese pickled napa cabbage with shio kombu 白菜漬け - 

Ingredients?

• 1/4 medium napa cabbage
• 1/2 medium carrot 
• 1 teaspoon salt

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon double-condensed Japanese tsuyu
• 2 tablespoons shio kombu 塩昆布
• 2 grams dried bonito flakes 鰹節
• 1 dried red chili
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

How?

Destem the napa cabbage and slice each big pieces of leaves in half lengthwise. Then slice to smaller rectangular chunks. Peel and julienne the carrot. Destem and slice the dried red chili to smaller rings.

Add the napa cabbage and carrot to a container. 

Mix in 1 teaspoon of salt. Give it a quick massage then put aside for 10 minutes. You'll start to see some liquid drawing out on the bottom.

After 10 minutes, squeeze out the liquid really hard and transfer the veggies to a big Ziploc bag. In that bag, also add 1 tablespoon of Japanese tsuyu, 2 tablespoons of shio kombu, 2 grams of dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi), dried red chilies, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Use 2 teaspoons of sugar instead if a sweeter taste is preferred.

Mix till evenly blended. Flatten the area and store in the fridge overnight. Remember toss a few times or flip to the other side half way through.

Enjoy the pickled napa cabbage as it is the next day. 

You can move the rest of the pickles to a seal-tight container. Continue to store in the fridge and it'll still be good over the next few days.

The pickles are best when serving along side some heavy or stronger-tasting main dishes, such as fried pork cutlet or curry. That refreshing acidity will help cutting through the fat and sometimes remedy the spicy numbing sensation. 

Extended reading:

• Spicy Korean cucumber salad
• Japanese pickled daikon 大根漬け