I was completely and utterly torn between two recipes, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s chicken with a soy-whiskey glaze and Mochachocolata aka Rita incredibly delicious-looking chicken with a sticky rice stuffing. Plus, i was hungry. Very hungry. So i thought, heck… let’s combine both recipes, shake really hard and see what comes out of it. Being ordered around by two persons at the same time ain’t easy, let me tell you, but the results were well worth the effort.

I started by slicing some really good Chinese sausage (smuggled from Hong-Kong, nothing less), shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, garlic and ginger and gave them a good stir-fry before adding the sticky rice, per Rita’s instructions i deglazed the pan with dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce and added chicken stock and left it to cook until it got all nice and sticky and delicious. Meanwhile Jean-Georges’s recipe instructed me to put the baby chickens in a quick 30-min brine. So i did that too! Went back to check if the sticky rice was good and boy… Rita didn’t let me down, it was amazing. I let it cool and made Jean-Georges’s soy-whiskey glaze and moved along to next step of Rita’s instructions:

“Stuff the chicken’s ass with the sticky rice.”

Umm.. Well, after removing the chickens from the brine and drying them.. i did exactly that. I never took chicken anatomy class in school but i think i got it right.

Next was a lot of roasting and basting business with the fabulous soy-whiskey glaze until the baby chickens got that glorious, deep brown shine to them. After enjoying a brief moment of pride, it was time for dinner.

Friends, it’s as good as it looks. If not better.

Thanks again to my two mentors for largely inspiring this recipe. I’ll definitely be making it again.

• Baby Chicken with Soy-Whiskey Glaze & Sticky Rice Stuffing

• serves 2-3
• Inspired/Adapted from Mochachocolata Rita & Jean-Georges Vongerichten
• 

• • Baby Chicken w/ Soy-Whiskey Glaze:

  • 2 baby chickens
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup chopped ginger
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup whiskey
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • canola oil, for brushing

  • For the Sticky Rice Stuffing:

  • 2 Chinese sausages, sliced
  • 1 cup dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in water
  • 1 cup chestnuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
  • 1 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 Tbs canola oil
  • 3 Tbs dark soy sauce
  • 2 Tbs soy sauce
  • 2 cups sticky rice
  • 2 cups chicken stock
• 

  • For the baby chicken w/ soy-whiskey glaze:

  • Combine the 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large container with 4 cups of cold water to dissolve. Add the baby chickens and soak for 30 min at room temperature.
  • Preheat the oven to 375′F. Drain the chickens and pat dry. Season the bird’s cavity with salt and pepper, stuff with the cooled sticky rice stuffing and truss it or at least tie up the legs. Combine the remaining ginger with the soy sauce, whiskey, the remaining 1 cup of sugar, and the garlic in a saucepan and bring to boil.
  • Put the baby chickens on their back, baste them with the soy-whiskey mixture, and put pan in the oven.
  • Roast for 45min, basting every 10 minutes with the soy glaze, until dark brown. A thermometer inserted into its thigh should read 155′F. Remove the bird from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve with pan juices.

  

  For the sticky rice stuffing:

  • Soak the sticky rice and the dry shiitake in water ahead of time. Reserve some of the mushroom soaking liquid to cook the rice.
  • In a large pan, add canola oil and stir-fry the Chinese sausage slices, shiitake mushroom slices and chestnuts. Add the chopped garlic and ginger and keep stirring until fragrant.
  • Add the drained sticky rice to the mixture and deglaze with dark soy sauce and regular soy sauce. Add the chicken stock and 1/2 cup mushroom liquid and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
  • Cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed.
  • Let it cool until ready to use.

  

Tags: Chicken, Entree, Poultry