Ayam masak kicap, soy-braised chicken

📝 Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs (about 280 g each)
• 600 g potatoes (4 medium, about 150 g each)
• 200 g jasmine rice
• 2 brown onions (about 120 g each)
• 4 garlic cloves + 20 g fresh ginger
• 2 star anise + 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 tbsp soy sauce + 3 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 700 ml water (400 ml for the sauce, 300 ml for the rice)
• 2 spring onions
• Black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Flameproof casserole dish with lid
• Saucepan with lid
• Large knife
• Chopping board
• Colander

📖 Steps

1. Cut each chicken leg in two at the joint, feeling with the tip of the knife for the spot where the blade goes through without force: you get a drumstick and a thigh. Remove the skin by pulling it off with kitchen paper, then season the pieces with pepper.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks of about 4 cm so they cook in the sauce without falling apart. Slice the onions into half-moons, chop the garlic and grate the peeled ginger.
3. Heat the oil in the casserole dish over high heat. Brown the chicken pieces for 3 to 4 minutes per side until well coloured, in two batches so as not to crowd them: packed too tightly, they release water and won't brown. Set aside on a plate.
4. Reduce to medium heat and fry the onions in the remaining fat for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger, star anise and cinnamon, then stir for 1 minute, just until fragrant: the garlic mustn't brown.
5. Pour in the soy sauce, brown sugar and 400 ml water, scraping the bottom to release the browned bits. Return the chicken and add the potatoes: the liquid should come halfway up. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 25 minutes over low heat, turning the pieces halfway through.
6. Meanwhile, rinse the rice in the sieve until the water runs almost clear. Put it in the saucepan with 300 ml water, bring to the boil, cover and cook for 12 minutes over very low heat, then leave to rest for 10 minutes off the heat without opening.
7. Take the lid off the casserole dish, turn up to medium-high heat and let it reduce for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the chicken regularly, until the sauce turns syrupy and glazes the pieces. Watch closely towards the end: the sugar can catch.
8. Check it's cooked: the drumstick meat should come away easily from the bone and the potatoes should be tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the star anise and cinnamon, sprinkle with sliced spring onions and serve with the rice.