- [Narrator] I'm standing right next to the braised fan,
and he says they've braised for two hours.
Oh, that's just a swimming pool.
That's a jacuzzi of braised chicken.
Wow.
- [Senpai] What's up squad?
Welcome back to "Street Food with Senpai".
We're headed to Hong Kong,
the one in China,
to make soy sauce chicken,
or has Mark Wien's has dubbed it,
jacuzzi chicken.
Succulent plump chicken,
braised in a cauldron of aromatics and spices.
Contrary to popular belief,
chicken does not have to be fried to be delicious.
After we time lapse through our prep,
we head outside to our spacewalk,
donated by the kind humanoids at Area 51.
Over medium heat,
add 1 cup of oil,
followed by 1 cup sliced ginger,
8 shallots quartered,
12 cut up scallions,
and 1 cup of garlic cloves,
stirring 15 to 22 times.
Next, add 8 star anise,
4 leaves of bay,
4 sticks of cinnamon,
8 fresh orange peels,
and then give that a stir.
Next goes in 4 cups of light soy sauce,
3 cups of dark soy sauce,
3 cups Shaohsing wine,
and 12 cups of suspiciously colored water.
I swear, man, it was just the container.
Then 2 cups of brown sugar,
and chicken powder,
aka undercover MSG,
2 tablespoons.
Bring that up to a gentle simmer,
and give the chicken elixir a sippy.
Tastes pretty Chinese to me.
So in goes our chicklets, around 3 pounds each.
Originally we were gonna do like 8,
but I think 4 is a good number,
1 each for everyone in the studio to take home.
Give it a few whirlpools,
and a few ladles over the top for good fortune.
And then say farewell to your favorite chicken.
You want the temperature to be around 170
to ensure juicy meat.
For the absolute best results,
you would cook this,
and then chill the entire thing till the next day.
Around 50 minutes later,
we'll come borrow 1 chicken,
and 4 cups of the braising liquid.
Fair warning,
you are gonna have a ton of this liquid,
so you can make the sauce once,
and keep using that same liquid up to 3 times.
Strain the liquid into a pot,
and get a good amount of it everywhere.
Once you see it start spilling,
just commit to the pour.
We just don't give up halfway here in the BCU.
Set that pot as hot as it goes, and just walk away.
You want about 1/2 cup of it to boil over,
because we just don't want too much sauce.
These last two steps are optional.
Who in the hell decided to give this guy his own show?
Mix in a corn starch slurry, 1 tablespoon at a time.
That's just equal parts water and corn starch.
Once the sauce is thicker,
but not a gravy,
set that to the side,
and on to our easiest side dish.
Add baby bok choy to heavily salted boiling water.
Just 30 seconds and it'll be perfect.
Set that aside,
and we'll go peep out this chicken.
My dudes, the smell in the studio,
smelling like the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Separate the legs, thighs, and wings,
and cut the breast in half.
As you see, you don't even need a knife to cut this.
You can cleaver right through the bones,
but removing the chest plate
will make it much easier to eat.
Chop, chop, chop.
Man, look at them juicy johns.
Stop playing with me.
To plate up this beauty,
line a plate with plenty of white rice.
Layer the chicken on top,
followed by the bok choys along the side.
Lay on that magic sauce, and be generous with it.
Get your bok choy a little wet, too,
if you're naughty boy.
And it's time to visit Flavor Town.
This is pretty dope for what's, essentially, boiled chicken.
I'm just gonna start throwing cinnamon and star anise
in everything.
Gonna be making some real crunchy grilled cheese.
The sugar balances out all that soy sauce,
and all the aromatics synergize so well.
A lot of bit of ginger and garlic never hurt anybody,
and it's good for the old six pack.
Now let me show you a realistic at-home version.
In a tall, but not too wide pot,
saute 1/4 cup garlic cloves,
1/4 cup sliced ginger,
and 2 shallots sliced.
The size of the veggies don't matter,
we're just extracting all that flavor.
Once they're nice and caramelized,
maybe 3 minutes later,
add 3/4 cups dark soy,
1 cup light soy,
3/4 quarters cups Shaohsing wine,
3 cups of water,
1/2 cup of dark brown sugar,
2 orange peels,
all them green onions that we're hiding,
and all your spices.
Now, red food coloring is optional,
but visually, it does make the chicken look super dope.
Tuck in your chicken,
and then top off with water if you need to.
Place a lid on it,
and cook it at 170 for about 50 minutes.
While that jacuzzi's up,
let's prep some hand torn cabbage.
Grab you some thick bacon,
and cut 1/4 cup's worth of lardons, or thick pieces.
For the sauce,
mix 1 tablespoon light soy sauce,
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar,
1/2 tablespoon sugar,
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch,
1/2 tablespoon chicken powder, or MSG,
and Sichuan peppercorns.
I prefer the green ones a lot,
because they're way more aromatic,
and they don't obliterate my tongue.
In a wide pan, over medium heat,
add your bacon,
which I cut way too much of,
but too much bacon is a myth, right?
So I just added it all anyways.
Once that's fully rendered,
about 4 to 5 minutes,
add 4 sliced garlic cloves,
1/4 inch of ginger,
3 dried chilies,
and 1 scallion cut into 2 inch pieces.
Stir that really quick,
and then add your Napa cabbage.
You wanna do about half a head's worth,
torn into 2 inch pieces.
Stir that from top to bottom to disperse the heat evenly.
Once it's half wilted,
add your sauce,
and then combine it super quickly.
It should thicken almost immediately,
and boom, you are done.
Good stuff, dude.
The last side dish we're gonna make,
broccoli and garlic sauce,
is even easier.
In a small container,
mix 1 tablespoon oyster sauce,
1 tablespoon light soy sauce,
2 tablespoons water,
1 teaspoon sesame oil,
1/4 teaspoon of sugar,
and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch,
and set that aside.
Next, bring a large pot of boiling salted water to a boil,
and blanche 1/2 a pound of broccoli heads.
Just in and out real quick to prevent overcooking.
Next, heat up a sauce pan with 2 tablespoons of oil,
1 sliced red chili,
the whites of 2 scallions,
and 4 minced garlic cloves.
Saute that for 2 to 3 minutes,
then add in your broccoli,
along with your sauce.
Cook that whole thing over medium for 2 more minutes
until the sauce thickens.
That says, "Son, you're killing it."
We'll take a peeper at this chicken,
and she's looking juicy as a mug.
Then reduce some sauce, same as before.
2 cups of the brazen liquid,
and about 2 to 3 tablespoons of slurry.
Spilling it everywhere is optional.
Cut up that beautifully red chicken,
and sauce them johns up.
What's up, Costco, how you like that?
Assemble all the goodies,
and try to build that ultimate bite.
And if you fail at first,
you can just give up,
it's okay.
Not gonna lie, this chicken is banging,
but these side dishes,
so much texture and different pops of flavor
like that green Sichuan. Yep.
If you want the chicken super red,
you'll want to completely cool it in the liquid,
and stick it in the fridge overnight.
But personally, I'm not a fan of 24 hour recipes,
Alvin, and this feast right here tastes just fine.
(upbeat music)