Golden Chicken

Enjoy this tasty chicken hot or cold. It is great for buffets, as it looks so attractive and can be cooked a long time beforehand. From Easy Chinese cookbook by Elizabeth Chong.

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 kg chicken
• 1  piece gingerroot, size of small walnut
• 1  spring onion

• Simmering Sauce

• 1  cup water
• 1  cup light soy sauce
• 3  tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1  tablespoon wine or 1  tablespoon  shaoxing wine or 1  tablespoon dry sherry
• 1  tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1  tablespoon honey
• 1  teaspoon  sesame oil
• 2  whole star anise
• 1  bay leaf
• 2  teaspoons brown sugar

Directions

1. Wash chicken well and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Place ginger and spring onion in the cavity of the chicken.
3. Bring the sauce ingredients to the boil in a saucepan large enough to hold the chicken. Make sure honey and sugar dissolve completely.
4. Place the chicken in the saucepan with the sauce. Bring back to the boil, basting the sauce over the chicken, then reduce heat to a low simmer.
5. Simmer the chicken for 15 minutes; the sauce should be just bubbling. Turn the chicken over to cook for another 15 minutes, then return the chicken to its back again for a final 25-30 minutes of low simmering.
6. The chicken is cooked when the flesh on the drumstick has shrunk back from the bone.
7. Remove the chicken to cool to room temperatures, then chop into pieces, chinese style, for serving.
8. To serve, spoon about 3 tablespoons of the reheated sauce over the chicken and garnish attractively with fresh spring onion curls.