Bak Zhum Kai (White cut chicken)

Suddenly had a craving for bak chum kai. Did some research and found that its a Cantonese dish and in the old days, just like nonya women were judged for their cooking skills by how well they could turn out nonya dishes, similarly, Cantonese wives were tested on their cooking skills based on how well they could turn out a succulent and tender bak zhum kai where the breast is still moist but the thighs are cooked thru. There are apparently hundreds of methods for doing so, and every cook has their version. I found 3 that were most Singaporean/Malaysian and also easy enough to do without having to wait hours.

Here's my variation culled from these 2 sources: 1) Kitschow 2) Eating China

Method
1) Put a 1.5 to 2 kg chicken in a big pot, breast down first. Add a big piece of ginger.
2) Cover it with water. The water should cover the chicken by about an inch.
3) Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4) Turn off the flame and skim off any scum. Cover and let chicken steep for 30 - 40 mins (depending on size). To tell if the chicken is cooked, stick a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, it should read 170 deg C, or usually I just prick it with a fork in the thickest part of the thigh and press down. The juices running out should run clear. If its bloody, return chicken to steep some more.
5) Pour chicken in a colander and drain off the poaching water. Reserve the water for later use (e.g. to cook rice and voila, chicken rice! Or make soup by adding veg). Place chicken in an ice bath for a few minutes to seal in the juices.
6) Once the meat is cool, pat dry with kitchen towels. Rub the skin with sesame seed oil. Set the chicken aside until ready to chop up.

There are various sauces that can be served with this - ginger and scallion sauce (equal parts ginger and scallion finely minced, pour boil oil over it), ginger sauce (minced ginger and sesame seed oil) or chicken rice chilli sauce. Check out the links for the recipes.

There's also a far more complicated recipe by Grace Young, younger sister of Amy Tan of Joy Luck Club fame.