Red-Braised Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole bird chicken
• 12 ounces good wine (黃酒)
• 2.5 Chinese drams (錢) salt
• 4 Chinese drams (錢) rock sugar (冰糖)
• to taste cassia bark (桂皮)

Instructions

1. Clean the chicken thoroughly and cut into pieces. For each pound of chicken, measure out twelve ounces of good wine, two and one half drams of salt, and four drams of rock sugar. Grind and adjust the cassia bark to taste. Place all ingredients together in a clay pot (砂鍋). Braise over gentle charcoal fire (文炭火煨之) until the meat is tender.
2. If the wine has nearly evaporated before the chicken is fully cooked, add one teacup of boiled water per pound of chicken and continue braising until the flesh yields to the chopstick.