Baked Three Cup Chicken
De Arbol (Capsicum Annuum) means tree like in Spanish. The plant has thick, upright, woody stems and the chile itself is narrow, curved and bright red in color. Believed to be closely related to the pequin, the De Arbol is thin fleshed, with tannic, smoky, grassy flavor and searing heat. This chile has a heat range of 7.5 on the heat scale of 1-10. De Arbol Chiles are comparable to a Cayenne Pepper. Scoville heat units 15,000 to 30,000.
Suggested Use:
De Arbol is a hot chile and a staple in Southwest kitchens. Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish. Be adventurous and add them to your next stew or chili along with the other spices Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish.
Serves: 6
Ingredients
3 pounds (1.4 kg) bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
1/2 cup Japanese sake (or Shaoxing wine)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 thumb ginger, sliced
12 cloves garlic, peeled
1 big shallot, peeled and divided
4 dried chile peppers
2 cups fresh Thai (or regular) basil leaves
2 serrano peppers (or Thai chili peppers), sliced
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 C).
Arrange chicken in a large oven-safe skillet without overlapping pieces, skin side down.
Combine Japanese sake, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar in a bowl. Mix well until sugar is fully dissolved. Pour into the skillet with the chicken. Add ginger, garlic, shallot, and chili pepper.
Bake at 300 F (150 C) for 40 minutes.
Baked Three Cup Chicken Cooking Process:
Transfer the skillet to the kitchen counter. Flip the thighs so that skin side faces up.
Continue baking at 300 F (150 C) for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the thickest part of the biggest thigh registers 165 degrees F (74 C). Transfer the skillet to the kitchen counter.
Turn on broiler or turn oven to its highest temperature.
Use a ladle to skim oil from the surface of the sauce (*see footnote 1). Add basil leaves and serrano peppers.
Return the skillet to the oven and bake until the skin is crisped and charred, 2 to 4 minutes. Leave the oven light on and watch closely during the process. I found that baking time can vary a lot depending on the oven model.
Transfer the skillet to the kitchen counter and let rest for 5 minutes.
Serve over steamed rice or other preferred side with sauce while warm.
Notes
1. Alternatively, you can transfer the chicken to a plate, skim the oil with an oil separator, and place the chicken back in the skillet. The oil will be removed more thoroughly this way.
From omnivorescookbook.com