Red-Roast Chicken with Baby Bok Choy and Sweet Potatoes

Chicken braised in an aromatic soy-spice red-roast master sauce with sweet potatoes and bok choy.

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 3 tablespoons minced ginger
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup Shaoxing rice wine
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 star anise pods
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 cups water or chicken stock
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 heads baby bok choy, halved
• Steamed rice, for serving

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high. Brown the chicken thighs skin-side down until golden, 5 minutes; remove.
2. Add the ginger, garlic, and scallions and stir 1 minute. Add the soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, star anise, cinnamon, and water to build the red-roast master sauce; bring to a simmer.
3. Return the chicken, cover, and braise gently 25 minutes.
4. Add the sweet potato chunks and simmer, partially covered, until tender, about 15 minutes.
5. Add the bok choy and cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
6. Serve in bowls over steamed rice, ladling the fragrant red-roast sauce over the top.

Notes

Based on Ming Tsai’s red-roast chicken, an essential comfort dish built on his red-roast master sauce.