Silver-Wrapped Chicken

From the 1996 KLO dinner — Dim Sum

Silver-Wrapped Chicken

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Chinese bean sauce
• 1/4 cup minced green onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 Tbsp dry sherry
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
• 12 chicken thighs, each split crosswise into 2 pieces (or 12 boneless breast halves, cut in half)
• 24x 9″ foil squares
• vegetable oil for deep frying

Combine first 12 ingredients in a large bowl and stir to blend. Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight, stirring occasionally.

Place one foil square on work surface with one corner pointing toward edge. Place one chicken piece in center of foil. Drizzle with 1 tsp marinade. Fold bottom corner over chicken. Fold sides in. Lift section of foil containing chicken and fold upward, leaving top corner of foil exposed. Fold top corner into flap. Repeat with remaining chicken and foil. Discard remaining marinade.

Pour oil into heavy large Dutch oven to depth of 6″. Heat to 350 F. Working in batches, carefully add chicken packages (oil will bubble vigorously) and fry until chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer packages to paper towels and drain.

Arrange packages on platter and serve warm.

Variation: Instead of deep frying the packages, place on the top rack of a grill and grill over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes.