Casserole chicken

This is my mom's recipe, which we ate our way through our childhood. After she passed, I spent quite a bit of time experimenting and trying to recall from my childhood the possible things she might have put into the pot. And then I remembered that my mom is like a Jamie Oliver - bare basics. And so that's what I did - bare basics.

So here it is, but altered to my own taste buds, but the basic taste is the same.

Ingredients

4 drumsticks (Mom used to use 1 whole chicken for the family)

1 tbsp light soya sauce

2 tbsp chinese wine

1/2 tsp sugar (I used brown since this is going into the oven so there will be a nicer caramelized taste but you can use ordinary white sugar)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups water

1 medium carrot and 2 small potatoes (optional - my mom always added them but I don't)

1/2 thumb sized ginger, sliced thinly

2 star anise

Method

1) Marinate the chicken with the soya sauce and chinese wine. Just 10 minutes should suffice.

2) Put everything into a casserole and pour the water in. It should just cover the chicken, but if you need you can top up with more water.

3) Bake at 180 dec C for 1/2 hour and serve with freshly steamed rice.

The first taste transported me back to my childhood!