Recipe: Soy Sauce Chicken "See Yau Gai"

Soy sauce chicken is a dish that my Grandmother would make every weekend as it is rather simple and the braising liquid (Master Sauce) can be saved and reused over and over. There are some restaurants that have a Master Sauce brewing for many years!
This dish is also popular in Chinatown and you'll often see the glistening, succulent, reddish brown chicken hanging in a window.

Chinese New Year falls on January 23rd and the Chinese consider serving chicken is a sign of prosperity.
Many of the ingredients can be found in the Asian section of your supermarket or cheaper in Chinatown. If you can't find the ingredient, I've listed substitutions. Szechuan peppercorns impart a lemony numbing sensation but black peppercorns can be used if you can't find any.

Ingredients

• 3 to 3 1/2 pound chicken

Master Sauce:

• 1 cup light soy sauce (this is the regular soy sauce that you find everywhere)
  
• 1 cup dark soy sauce (this is basically for color but if you can't find it, just use regular)
  
• 1/2 cup Chinese shaoxing rice wine (you can substitute dry sherry)
• 1/3 cup Chinese rock sugar (or 1/2 cup brown sugar if you can't find rock sugar)
• 3 whole star anise (or use can use 1 tbsp of fennel seed)
  
• 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorn (pan roasted in a small dry skillet for 3-5 minutes)
  
• 1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
  
• 1 cinnamon stick (try to use cinnamon from a Chinese market)
• 4 cups water

Directions

1. Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Remove any fat deposits and discard.
2. In a pot large enough to hold the chicken, combine the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, star anise, roasted Szechuan peppercorn, ginger, cinnamon stick and the water. Bring to a boil.
   
3. Carefully add the chicken, breast side down. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover and cook the chicken for 45 minutes, turning over once or twice and making sure it cooks for an even amount of time on both sides. Baste the chicken for a minute or more each time you turn it over.
4. After 45 minutes, turn off the heat and the let chicken sit, covered, until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit (about 77 degrees Celsius).
5. Remove the chicken from the pot using 2 large spoons and cool. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Serves 6 – 8.
6. Reserve the Master Sauce to use again in the future by bringing it to a boil, cool, and store in a plastic container in the freezer.