Wolfberries and Char Siew Chicken

Recently I watched Channel 8's cooking variety show 3 Plus 1 Series 2 三菜一汤 and came across a very interesting recipe, Wolfberries and Char Siew Chicken. I happen to have a bottle of Char Siew Sauce idling in my fridge (I think a free gift from some grocery purchase) and the steps look really simple although specific measurements wasn't given in the programme, so I decided to give it a go using my own estimation.

Wolfberries and Char Siew Chicken

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 
  
  2 deboned chicken thighs (I bought ready deboned slabs from supermarket)
• 
  
  2 handfuls of wolfberries (quantity can be more or less according to personal preference)
• 
  
  2.5 Tbsp Char Siew Sauce (quantity can be more or less according to personal preference)

Steps

1. 
   
   Pre-soak the wolfberries in water till soft. Save some wolfberries for dish decoration and pound the rest into mash (no need to be too mashy).
2. 
   
   Marinate the chicken thighs with Char Siew Sauce and mashed wolfberries. I use a disposable plastic glove to rub the marinate thoroughly onto the chicken as the sauce can get quite sticky and messy. Leave to marinate for at least 15 mins.
3. 
   
   Heat non-stick pan (no need to add oil) with medium low fire.
4. 
   
   Place the marinated chicken thigh skin side down on to the pan.
5. 
   
   Cover the pan with a cover (I use the non air vent type of glass cover from another pot).
6. 
   
   Check the meat constantly and flip over once the meat is cooked and you can see the skin is golden brown with some charred portions. Same for the other side of the meat.
7. 
   
   Once both sides are cooked, cut into about 2cm slices, decorate with wolfberries and parsley and ready to serve.

It's important to control the heat (medium low) as the skin/meat tends to char quite easily due to the caramelised char siew sauce, yet the meat may not be cooked thoroughly as thigh meat is quite thick-cut.

Look at the beautiful cut of the thigh meat :d~~~

Initially I thought the marinate would be cloyingly sweet like char siew pork but surprisingly, it's not that kind of sweetness; rather natural sweetness from the wolfberries. The chicken meat is tender and juicy (important not to overcook otherwise meat will be too dry and without juice) with just the right sweetness and saltiness that suits our palate. Yummy!

Perfect with a bowl of rice! Since wolfberry boasts of many health benefits and the dish is easy to cook, this recipe is definitely a keeper for my household :)