Braised Chicken in Potato Mold

By JimMac

The chicken can be cooked well in advance and the dish finalized by preparing the potatoes and baking the assembled dish in the oven.

Ingredients

• Marinade:
• 1 chicken, about 1.5 kg (3 pounds), cut in pieces and de-boned
• oil for deep frying
• 12 fresh shiitake mushrooms, quartered
• 10 button mushrooms, halved
• 6 cm (2 1/2 inches) ginger, sliced
• 750 g ( 1 1/2 pound) large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• salt and pepper to taste
• Sauce:
• 1 tbsp oil
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 5 whole star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick, about 4 cm ( 1 1/2")
• 1 tbsp five-spice powder
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 4 tbsp Chinese wine
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tsp cornflour, mixed with 2 tbsp water

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

1. Combine the marinade ingredients, mix with the chicken and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
2. Pat the chicken dry and deep fry in very hot oil until half cooked.
3. To prepare the sauce, heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan and stir fry the garlic, star anise and cinnamon for 1 minute.
4. Add the deep-fried chicken, both types of mushrooms and ginger. Stir fry for 3 minutes, then add remaining sauce ingredients except for cornflour. Simmer for about 2 minutes and season to taste, then add the blended cornflour. When the sauce thickens a little, remove from fire and set aside to cool.
5. Pan fry the thinly sliced potatoes with butter and oil until half cooked.
6. Line an oven-proof bowl with the half cooked potatoes, making sure they overlap. Fill with the cooked chicken mixture and cover with remaining potatoes.
7. Bake in a hot oven (200° C/400° F) for about 5-7 minutes. Unmould and serve hot.