made braised chicken thighs with taupok for teban gardens community breakfast this morning on 22.9.2017. ^^
this my 41st friday breakfast community meal at teban gardens community service centre.
i first started doing a community meal dish for teban gardens CSC on 8.1.2016.
the centre was started in 2002 after much effort & challenge by our RI friend who is a pastor of pasir panjang hill brethren church (pphbc) which owns & runs the CSC.
wasn’t sure what dishes to make for teban gardens this morning.
i had made diced pork for last 2 friday breakfasts. it was the easiest to do as no cutting, preparation required for the pork, just steam for 1.5hrs.
if i get fresh whole chicken , i would need 3 chickens and deboning 3 chickens is quite an effort.
anyhow i went to sheng shiong last evening past 10pm, and i decided on 2kg packet of deboned chicken legs/thighs.
i cut the boneless thighs into 10/12 pieces each, so i had about 120 pieces+
i washed with salt & drained in colander in fridge overnight.
this morning, i added chicken fat, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 star anise, 4 cloves, 3cm cut ginger, & whole load of chopped garlic about 2tbsp (did not have whole garlic bulbs), 1 tbsp sugar.
then i added the chicken and fried under high heat, and added tai hwa braising sauce, covered & simmered.
the key is simply NOT to overcook the chicken, so it is tender & tasty, well infused with the braising sauce.
then i dished out the chicken pieces into the aluminum carrier tray.
at sheng shiong last evening, i also bought 2 packets of hara taupok 豆腐皮.
i chose packets with 11 pieces (some only 10 pieces). this morning i cut each piece into 4 pieces, so i had=22×4=88 pieces…
so i used the very tasty braising sauce after braising the chicken thighs, and cooked the taupok strips till very soft & well infused…
so i had very tasty taupok, and a bouncy, succulent, braised chicken thigh.
a simple yet beautiful dish.
c.h.e.f andy