While visiting Hong Kong I had the opportunity of visiting a restaurant kitchen and working with a Chinese grandmother! She showed me how to cook drunken chicken in the traditional Chinese way. I like to season the crisp fried vegetables used in the Asian coleslaw with salt and sugar. This makes for really exciting flavours and the crispness of the coleslaw acts as a perfect counterpoint to the jelly-like texture of the chicken. As with all recipes, select the best and freshest ingredients. When choosing your chicken, make sure it is free of blemishes and the skin is not torn.

Drunken chicken
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Blanch the chicken in the boiling water for about 10 seconds, then refresh in ice-cold water. This process will tighten the skin across the breast and bring out any excess fat. Repeat three times, taking care not to tear the skin of the chicken at any time.

Place the sake, sugar syrup and pandan leaf in a large 5-litre cooking pot and bring to the boil. Add the chicken to this poaching liquor and return to simmer. Cover the pan, lower the heat and poach gently for 45 minutes. To test if the chicken is cooked, pierce the leg with a thin skewer and if the juices run clear the bird is cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat and leave the chicken to cool in its poaching liquor. When completely cold, refrigerate and leave for 24 hours to ensure the flesh is ‘drunken’. Make sure not to tear the skin when handling.

Chilli mayonnaise
Place the finely chopped ginger, garlic and chillies in a mortar and pestle and pound to a fine paste. Scrape the paste into a food processor and add the egg yolk and vinegar and blend slowly to a purée. With the motor still running, slowly add the peanut oil until the mixture emulsifies and thickens. Add the lime zest and juice and a tablespoon of hot water (this will help to stabilise the mayonnaise and stop it splitting). Refrigerate until needed.

Asian coleslaw
Prepare the Chinese broccoli, carrot, sweet potato, kalium and ginger for the coleslaw and reserve separately until ready to fry. Slice the chilled wonton skins into long thin hair-like strands and store on a separate tray ready for frying.

Use a mandolin or very sharp knife to slice the lotus root as thinly as possible and reserve separately.

In a medium-size (3-litre) cooking pot heat the vegetable oil to 180ºC (350ºF). Line several large trays with absorbent paper to drain the fried vegetables. Fry each ingredient (the shredded Chinese broccoli, carrot, sweet potato, ginger, wonton skins, kalium leaves and sliced lotus root) separately, until crispy and golden. The kalium will only take a few seconds. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper, ensuring that each ingredient is kept separate.

When cool, transfer to clean, freshly lined trays and season lightly with icing sugar and salt. Reserve until ready to serve.

Garnish
Remove and discard the outer leaves of the iceberg lettuce. Carefully break away remaining inner leaves and use sharp scissors to trim them into large even-sized cups. Place in iced water to crisp.

Slice the kaffir lime leaves very finely lengthways so that you have long, hair-like strands. Bring a small pot of water to the boil and blanch them for 3 seconds then refresh in iced water. Drain and reserve until needed.

Roughly chop the roasted peanuts.

To serve
Remove the cold chicken from the poaching liquor. Trim away and discard the wings. Carefully remove the legs and breasts and discard the remaining carcass. Gently pull away the flesh from the legs and break into smallish pieces. Slice the breasts into bite-size pieces.

Spoon a teaspoon of the chilli mayonnaise into each lettuce cup, followed by a spoonful of chicken. Next add a Vietnamese mint leaf and a pinch each of shredded kaffir lime leaf and roasted peanuts. Top with a small amount of the each of the fried Asian coleslaw ingredients, stacking them one on top of the other. Finish with a slice of crispy lotus root, season with a little extra icing sugar and salt and serve immediately.


Recipe from Contemporary Australian Food by Teage Ezard with photographs by Ned Meldrum. Published by Hardie Grant Books.