Braised Chicken, Henan Style

Poultry

Braised Chicken, Henan Style
Ingredients:
1/2 pound chicken breast, its meat left on the bone
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 whole egg, beaten until light in color
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 large Chinese yam, peeled, about half a pound
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon thin soy sauce
2 scallions, cut into one-inch pieces
1 Tablespoon thinly sliced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 whole star anise
2 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
Preparation:
1. Chop chicken breast into two-inch cubes, then mix them with the salt, beaten egg, and cornstarch; and let them rest for half an hour.
2. Cut yam into same size pieces as the chicken.
3. Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the chicken pieces, remove them when crisp to a clay pot or a ceramic casserole.
4. Reheat the oil and fry the yam cubes until golden, then drain them and put them on top of the chicken pieces. Discard the oil or save it for another use.
5. Mix soy sauce, scallions, slices of ginger, the sugar, star anise, and the rice wine, and pour this into a cleaned wok and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for five minutes before pouring this over the chicken and the yam pieces. Cover the claypot, and steam for twenty minutes over rapidly boiling water.
6. Carefully invert the solids in the claypot to a deep-sided platter, remove and discard the star anise, then pour the remaining liquid over the chicken-yam mixture, and serve.

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