Lemongrass Roast Chicken with Chinese Brocolli

[zhemao]

On my last trip to the supermarket, I bought some lemongrass because I was interested in cooking with it. Came up with this variation on my foil-wrap roast chicken recipe. It turned out very well. The lemongrass adds a nice tangy flavor that goes really well with the soy sauce and five spice powder mix. It was so good that I took not just one, but two pictures.

Look at that plating. Pretty fancy.

Ingredients:

• 2 whole chicken legs


• Gailan/Jielan (Chinese Brocolli)


• Lemongrass


• Soy sauce


• Dark soy sauce


• Rice wine


• Five spice powder


• Sugar


• Salt


• Chili pepper

Directions:

1. Clean the chicken legs by rinsing in warm water. Pat them dry with a paper towel.


2. Using a knife, separate the chicken thigh from the drumstick. Remove any excess skin.


3. Sprinkle some salt on the remaining skin and rub it in. The pores of the skin should become more visible and it will turn translucent.


4. In a bowl, mix a marinade from a quarter cup each of soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and rice wine. Add half a tablespoon of sugar and a few pinches of five spice powder.


5. Chop a bit of the lemongrass. You don't need that much. Crush it with your hands (or a mortar and pestle if you have it). Add this to the marinade.


6. Place the chicken in a container and then pour over the marinade. If there's still marinade left in the bowl, add a little water to dissolve and then pour into the container. Fill the container up so that the chicken is half submerged.


7. Toss the chicken around in the marinade so that it gets evenly covered, then put in the fridge.


8. Marinade for 30 minutes, then flip the chicken over and put back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.


9. Take the chicken out of the marinade. Slide off any excess marinade and lemongrass sticking to the chicken.


10. Wrap the chicken in foil envelopes. I wrapped the two drumsticks together and the thighs separately.


11. Place the envelopes in a wide, shallow pan. Then cover and put it on the range on low heat.


12. Let the chicken cook in the pan for 30 minutes.


13. Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit for another five minutes.


14. Use a spatula to lift the wrapped chicken from the pan and onto a plate. Once the foil is cool enough to touch, unwrap it.


15. Place the chicken in the serving container and transfer the liquid to a separate bowl.


16. Take 3-5 stalks of gailan and wash them thoroughly in cold water, then drain.


17. Chop the gailan. Cut the stem into thin slices, then larger pieces for the leaves.


18. Add the liquid from cooking the chicken to a wok and heat it on high. Once it starts to boil, throw in the gailan.


19. Stir until the leaves wilt, then turn the heat to medium low and cover.


20. Let the vegetables simmer for half a minute. At this point, the stems should be soft enough to chew, but still a bit crunchy.


21. Add a pinch of chili pepper. Then turn the heat back to high and reduce the liquid.


22. Pour the gailan and sauce over the chicken.

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