Beggar's Chicken
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Serves: 4-6 people
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1 bunch coriander (about 4-5 roots)
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10 cloves garlic
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10 black peppercorns
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5 whole star anise
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1.4-1.7 kilo/3-3.5lb. whole chicken
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Water
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1/2 cup dark soy sauce (I used a mushroom flavoured one only because that's all I had)
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1/4 cup fish sauce
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3 tablespoons palm sugar (or white sugar)
Step 1 - Cut the coriander about 4-5 cms or 2 inches from the root end. Rinse the coriander roots thoroughly under running water making sure to pull back the stems as a lot of dirt hides inside the roots. Reserve some leaves for garnishing. Place the roots in a mortar and pestle along with the peeled garlic and peppercorns and bash away to make a paste. You can do this in a small food processor but you will need to grind the peppercorns first as the food processor will not blitz them.
Step 2 - In a last saucepan or cast iron pot big enough to fit the chicken heat the vegetable oil over medium heat and add the coriander root paste and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the whole chicken and cook on each side for 2 minutes until lightly golden. Add the soy and fish sauces, star anise, sugar and then add enough cold water to cover the chicken-it doesn't matter if it doesn't cover the chicken entirely, you can turn the chicken over halfway during the cooking process. Turn up the heat until it simmers gently and cook for about 1 hour. If the water doesn't cover the chicken, after 30 minutes using a pair of tongs gently turn the chicken over.
Step 3 - Once done, carefully lift the chicken out of the stock and place on a serving plate. I let it cool down for a bit and used a pair of tongs in my right hand and a dishwashing glove on my left and that seemed to work just fine. Serve with steamed rice. Taste the stock and add more salt or soy if necessary (although the dark soy is strong stuff so go easy on it). Spoon some stock on the rice or you can use the stock as a base for noodle soups. I also found that I had so much of the leftover stock that I used it to make a flavoured rice. I just used the same amount of stock in place of water when boiling the rice and it came out a lovely glossy brown rice with a nice, mild flavour.