Daddy Lau likes to start by washing the chicken, but this step is optional! If you do wash your chicken (4 lb), focus on rinsing inside the breast and getting debris out of the cavity. Afterwards, thoroughly wipe down and disinfect any surfaces that came into contact with the raw chicken, or may have had some water splash, to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.

Let the chicken drain, and then place into a large pan or dish.

Pour boiling water onto the chicken to slightly blanch it. The skin will tighten up and crisp up easier later. This also rinses away some of the surface fattiness, allowing the chicken to better take on color from the sauce.

Put the chicken in a bowl, with the cavity opening down, to drain.

Break the star anise (3 piece) into smaller pieces. To prevent pieces from flying everywhere, wrap the star anise in a paper towel, and then smack them with the side of a heavy knife.

Cut the green onions (3 stalk) into thirds, or long batons.

Cut the ginger (1 oz) into slices.

Cut the shallots into quarters.

Heat the wok on high heat. Add oil (2 tbsp).

Add the ginger, and fry for 20 seconds.

Add the shallots, and fry for 20 seconds.

Add the crushed star anise, and fry for 10 seconds.

Add the green onion, and fry for 10 seconds.

It should smell pretty amazing now.

Add sauces

Pour in rice wine (3 tbsp) and stir it in. Be careful of splatters!

Add Kikkoman® Soy Sauce (12 oz) (light soy sauce), and cook for 30 seconds.

Then add boiling water (16 oz), and cook for 30 seconds.

Add rock sugar (3 oz), and cook for 30 seconds.

Add Kikkoman® Tamari Soy Sauce (1 tbsp) (or your dark soy sauce of choice) and cook for 20 seconds. Add the rest of the rice wine (3 tbsp).

Turn the heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the sugar has fully dissolved.

Transfer chicken to a larger pot. It should be deep enough so that the chicken will be at least half-submerged in the sauce. Pour the sauce carefully in, and bring it all to a simmer on low heat. Keep the chicken soaking in the simmering sauce for 15 minutes with the lid on.

Then, carefully flip the chicken over and place the lid back on, and soak, covered, for about 15 minutes, still on low heat.

If the chicken is smaller, it may be cooked through at this point. If it is larger, like ours at 4 lbs, flip it one more time and cook for an addition 10 minutes, again on low heat with the lid on.

Check for doneness by poking a chopstick into the thickest part of the chicken. If the juices run clear, it's ready. If there is any redness in the liquid, it's not cooked through yet. Otherwise, you can use a food thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165ºF (75°C).

When the chicken is fully cooked, it needs to cool down as fast as possible so that it doesn't keep cooking from its own residual heat. Prepare a large bowl with a bag of ice (1 gallon bags) on the bottom. The bag prevents melting ice from diluting the chicken.

Transfer the cooked chicken onto the ice, and then place a second bag of ice (1 gallon bags) on the top. Let the chicken cool this way for 10-20 minutes before cutting into it.

While waiting for the chicken to cool, bring the soy sauce to a boil. This will make it last longer and you can reuse it for other dishes, or to make more soy sauce chicken. We'll only be using 3 ladlefuls of it for this dish, so store the rest of it somewhere safe.

Get to carving! If you haven't taken a cooked chicken apart before, just take it section by section.

You don't need a particularly heavy knife for this, as chicken bones are hollow and not very dense. It's perfectly safe and effective to slice through where you can, and when that's not enough pressure, to set your knife on the chicken where you want to cut and then help push down with your other hand.

Remember to put each section back to recreate the whole chicken.

Chop the chicken in half lengthwise to get two symmetrical halves.

Cut along the joint to separate the wing. Then, pull the thigh away from the body and cut it off. You'll end up with the drumstick and thigh in one piece, separated from remaining body, which is mostly breast. Cut that in half lengthwise, and then chop each half into 1-inch wide pieces.

Cut the drumstick away from the thigh, and chop both of those parts into 1-inch pieces as well.

Also, separate the wing tip from the chicken wing.

Repeat this process with the other half of the chicken.

Add 3 ladlefuls of our soy sauce from earlier into the wok. Turn the heat on high and let it come to a boil.

Meanwhile, prepare a slurry with cornstarch (2 tbsp) and water (4 tbsp). Mix thoroughly to dissolve all the cornstarch.

Turn the heat down to low and slowly pour in the slurry, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. You can add more or less slurry according to your own preferences.

Add sesame oil (1 dash) to taste. It's better to add a little bit, taste, and then add a touch more if needed, as sesame oil is very potent! When you're happy with it, ladle the sauce over the chicken, making sure every piece gets some sauce.

Enjoy!