Drunken chicken

You will find a recipe for “drunken chicken” in many Chinese cookbooks. But you will not find this recipe for drunken chicken in any cookbook. In fact, you won’t find it anywhere. I just invented this recipe. Tonight. Out of sheer desperation. I was planning on having chicken asado when I discovered that we had no star anise in the house. So, I decided it would have to be chicken adobo instead. I opened the kitchen cabinet and we had no soy sauce. No light soy sauce, no dark soy sauce, no soy paste (I really need to go to the supermarket tomorrow). The freezer is stacked with meat and chicken but we have not much to cook them with. That was around 6.30 p.m. I needed to finish dinner in less than an hour. I don’t like delaying dinner on schooldays because I want the kids in bed by 9.00 p.m.

I started going through the bottles in the kitchen cabinets. Too many alcoholic drinks that we have not touched in months. Most of them were the usual corporate gifts that one receives on Christmas. One of these was a bottle of cognac . Next, I rummaged through the fridge. Way, way back was a bottle of chili bean sauce. They would have to do. The combination proved unbelievably good. I gave a big sigh of relief when, halfway through the cooking, I tasted the sauce. It was swell. I should mention, too, that this is such an easy dish to prepare.

So, I cannot give you the exact proportions because I cooked this dish on the fly. I can, however, describe exactly how I went about it.

I started with a whole chicken, 1.1 kilos in weight. The breast was cut off, boiled, flaked and mixed with mayo for the kids’ sandwiches tomorrow. So, that’s one whole chicken minus the breast. The chicken was chopped into serving pieces. Chop it as though you were going to make fried chicken. Then, finely chop about 1-1/2 tbsps. of garlic and one whole onion.

I melted about 1/4 c. of margarine in a hot wok. I sauteed the garlic and the onions then added 2 bay leaves. When the garlic started turning brown, I added the chicken pieces. I cooked them over very high heat, stirring them occasionally, until the edges started to brown. Then I poured in the cognac. How much? I don’t know exactly. I just poured. Best estimate would be half to three-fourths cup. I let the chicken boil in the cognac, still over very high heat. No, I did not set the cognac in flame. I just let everything boil. Then I added about a tablespoon of salt and about half a teaspoon of ground pepper. When the cognac had almost boiled dry, I added about three tablespoonfuls of the chili bean sauce. I stirred to coat the chicken with the sauce and to disperse the salt and pepper. Then, I poured in a cup of water. When the mixture was boiling, I turned the heat to low, covered the wok and simmered the chicken for 15 minutes.

When the chicken was done, I dispersed a teaspoon of tapioca starch in one-fourth cup of water then poured the mixture into the simmering chicken. I turned up the heat and cooked, stirring, until the sauce was thick and clear.

It was a very tasty dish. There was no trace of the cognac in the mouth, just the mild spiciness of the chili bean sauce (no, it wasn’t overly spicy; my kids loved this dish!), and the garlic and onion flavors.