Painting with Soya

鼓油雞（家教雞）

Soya Sauce Chicken

My dad said his grandpa named this chicken as 家教雞, a chicken based on a cooking method transferred from generation to generation. At least now I have picked it up and obviously Cheriann has managed to follow the fundamental as well...

My dad did acquire quite some good tips from the commercial side and was able to bring them into practice with his own recipe transferred from his great grandpa or grandpa.

1 quality Kaimei chicken (the cockerel) 嘉美雞

The Sauce

½ bottle Dark Soy

3-4 piece medium sized rock sugar or ¾ piece of cane sugar (片糖)

½ bottle Quality Light Soy Sauce

1 anise star

1 cinnamon stick

1 tbsp of juice of ginger

2-3 tbsp of Shaoxing wine (紹興酒)

1 tsp mei kuei lu chiew – Chinese rose wine (玫瑰露酒)

• Air-dry the chicken by hanging it or on a chicken chair over night.
• Dissolve rock sugar with the dark soy sauce at your desired taste. Paint the chicken with the dark soy sauce and leave it air-dried again. Continue this process 3 times. The chicken should have a nice glossy dark skin.
• Fold in the rest of the sauce ingredients together with the dark soy painting sauce and bring to a boil. Check the taste and adjust with more soy sauce or sugar as desired. 
• Pour the sauce preferably in a tall slim cooking pot that can fit in the chicken in an upright position. The chicken should be completely submerged in the sauce. Add extra water and further adjust the taste of the sauce if needed.
• Cook the chicken based on the below timing:

• Cook a small sized chicken in the boiling sauce for 3-4 minutes then off fire. Leave it covered and soaked in the sauce for another 35 minutes to continue the cooking process.
• Cook a large sized chicken in the boiling sauce for 4-5 minutes then off fire. Leave it covered and soaked in the sauce for another 40-45 minutes.
• Take out the chicken from the sauce and leave it cooled down before cutting it so the meat will stay intact and firm in texture.
• To serve, reheat the sauce while cutting the chicken. Pour the sauce all over the chicken then drain the sauce out. Repeat this process for 3-4 times till the chicken became warm. Serve the chicken with some sauce or on the side. 

Tips: 
If you are a soy sauce chicken fan, it's worthwhile to invest into a chicken chair and a tall slim cooking pot.