Pan Seared Chicken Leg.. with a really delicious sauce.

There is something really delicious about chicken chops that I can't seem to understand. Here in Singapore, chicken chops or seared marinated chicken legs, are a common dish to find in eateries and food courts. I love them. But it is disappointing when the chicken chop is full of tendons or/and when the sauce is made from a premixed powder.

Tired of traveling to distant places just to have my chicken chop fix, I have decided to make awesome chicken chops at home. I had to trial and err. It was bat-shit crazy, I've probably wasted about a liter's worth of sauces and ingested insane amounts of sodium. It was all worth it when I finally decided to combine every single sauce that made sense to my palate. I mixed a bunch of sauces and condiments and it made sense. I'm sure I will refine it one day. But until then, you can try the following recipe, it is really good nevertheless.

Recipe
serves 4

4 boneless chicken legs, skinned
3 tbsp grapeseed oil

Marinate
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vegetable oil

Sauce
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
brown sugar, to taste
sea salt, to taste
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp wocestershire sauce
1 tbsp hua tiao jiu or sherry
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp hp sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tsp black pepper, crushed
1 tsp sesame oil

- Marinate chicken legs with marinate ingredients for at least 1 hour.


- Next, prepare the sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, add sesame oil and saute onions until they turn translucent. Add garlic and saute for further 2 mins. Add tomato paste and saute for another 2-3 mins.

- Add hua tiao jiu and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Add soy sauce, wocestershire, hp sauce, oyster sauce and ketchup. Bring to another simmer. Adjust seasoning with brown sugar and salt, though it is likely that you won't need salt at all.

- Add in black pepper and thicken mixture with cornstarch. Set aside on a stove on very low heat until needed. Feel free to add or subtract the condiments to perfect its flavor, it can get tricky.


- Get a pan hot on medium heat, add grapeseed oil and sear chicken legs for 4 mins a side, until nicely colored and cooked in the middle. Set aside to rest for 5 mins. Drizzle sauce over chicken legs.


- Serve hot with rice or fries. :)