Light Pulled Chicken Poutine

📝 Ingredients

• 1 kg floury potatoes (e.g. Bintje, unpeeled weight)
• 2 ½ tbsp sunflower oil (2 for the chips, ½ for the gravy)
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 4 chicken legs (about 220 g each, bone in)
• 2 beef stock cubes + 1 litre water
• 1 bay leaf + ½ tsp dried thyme
• 1 brown onion (about 120 g)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cornflour + 4 tbsp cold water
• 2 mozzarella balls (125 g each, drained)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Sauté pan
• 2 baking trays and baking paper
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Vegetable peeler

📖 Steps

1. Bring 1 litre water to the boil in a saucepan with the stock cubes, bay leaf and thyme. Add the chicken legs (the stock should almost cover them), turn the heat down to low-medium, cover and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes, turning them halfway through.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220 °C. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chips about 1 cm thick. Rinse them in a large bowl of cold water to remove the starch, then dry them thoroughly in a clean tea towel: that's the secret to crispiness.
3. Spread the chips over two baking trays lined with baking paper, drizzle with 2 tbsp oil, sprinkle with paprika and salt, and toss with your hands. Arrange them in a single layer without overlapping, otherwise they steam and stay soft.
4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, turning the chips and swapping the trays round halfway through, until golden and crispy. Meanwhile, lift out the chicken, whose meat should come away easily from the bone, and set aside 500 ml stock.
5. Leave the legs to cool slightly for 5 minutes, remove the skin and bones, then shred the meat into long strands with two forks. Season with pepper, drizzle with 2 tbsp of the remaining stock to keep it moist and keep warm under an upturned plate.
6. For the brown gravy, peel and finely chop the onion. Brown it for 8 minutes over a medium heat in a sauté pan with ½ tbsp oil, stirring, until deep brown: this is what gives the colour and flavour. Add the tomato purée and stir for 1 minute.
7. Pour in the 500 ml reserved stock and the soy sauce and bring to the boil. Mix the cornflour with the cold water, pour it in while whisking and leave to thicken for 2 minutes over a medium heat, until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Taste and season with pepper.
8. Cut the mozzarella into 1 cm cubes and pat them dry on kitchen paper. Divide the hot chips between the plates, add the chicken and mozzarella, then immediately pour over the boiling hot gravy to melt the cheese. Serve straight away.