Chicken mini drumsticks gently cooked in a ‘lao-sui’ stock with Chinese spices of star anise, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, fennel and Sichuan pepper,  then tossed in a frying pan with a splash of dark soy sauce.

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg chicken mini drumsticks
• a few drizzles of dark soy sauce
• cooking oil
• sesame seeds to garnish, optional

‘Lao-sui’ stock

• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. sugar (I use Chinese rock sugar)
• 4 star anise
• 6  bay leaves
• 1-2 cinnamon sticks (approx. 10g)
• 1 tsp pepper corns, lighted crushed
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• a few cardamom pods, crushed
• fresh ginger (approx. 20g or to taste), sliced
• salt to taste

Method

• In a heavy-based pot, add mini drumsticks, ‘lao-sui’ ingredients, and top with enough water to submerge the mini drumsticks; bring the stock to boil again; turn the heat to low and simmer very gently until the chicken is cooked; approximately 20 minutes
• Remove the chicken mini drumsticks from the pot; drain well; set aside to cool; pat dry with a paper towel
• In a frying pan, heat up some cooking oil; add chicken mini drumsticks in small batches; toss briefly until the mini drumsticks are hot; add a small dash of dark soy sauce and toss briefly until aromatic, approximately 30 seconds
• Remove from heat and serve
• Garnish with sesame seeds (optional)