Introduction: Simple Hot Chicken

Its easy to make, requires just a few common non-perishable ingredients (other than the chicken) and is even better as leftovers

Step 1: Ingredients

Chicken: This instructable uses a whole cut up chicken but use whatever pieces and parts you like. It can be done with frozen chicken breasts but the result will be a little drier. Cooking the chicken with the bone and a little fat makes the meal a little juicier.

Hot pepper flakes

Soy sauce: Regular or low sodium

Garlic: Powder or fresh crushed or chopped cloves.

Vegetables: this instructable is shown without vegetables. Vegetables can be easily selected and added based on your personal preferences. The recipe is very good with cabbage and we like it with potatoes or zucchini as well. The vegetable choices are pretty limitless. You can add the veggies in the middle of the cooking process. The only problem with the veggies is that that the chicken and broth mixture can be reheated multiple times. The veggies.. not so much.

Step 2: Cleaning the Chicken Or: Ewwww! Or: the Worst Part.

This is the only real chore of the preparation. I will try not to go into great detail on food safety when handling raw chicken. Suffice to say that raw chicken is the foulest of the fowl in terms of the potential for carrying bacteria such as salmonella . The juice from the raw chicken can cross contaminate anything it comes in contact with. This can occur at the factory during mass production, processing and packaging and at home when it comes in contact with your knives, cutting board, counter, sink, etc. When prepping the chicken strive to control the surfaces it comes in contact with, then thoroughly separate and bleach all these items and surfaces prior to washing with hot soap and water.

This instructable presents prepping a whole cut up chicken that was packaged at the store. This is just how we do it. you may chose to do it differently but since this IS an instructable I will describe how we do it.

First remove the skin from the breasts and thighs, leave the skin on the legs and wings, cut off excess fat, rinse the chicken to remove additional fat and fatty membranes. Rinsing the chicken in the sink is something that food safety protocols may advise both for and against. but if you do rinse in the sink be sure to bleach when done, and you have to figure out how to turn the water on and of without getting chicken juice on the faucet handle, you may need a third hand. Remove what bones you can from the thigh, cut up the breast into smaller pieces so they cook quicker and place everything in the pan. Put the legs, wings and thighs with bone in on the bottom, close to the heat so they cook more thoroughly. Clean up the nasty chicken juice, bleach the crap out of everything and now the worst part is over.

Step 3: Add Ingredients and Cook

The quantities of the ingredients garlic, hot pepper and soy sauce is largely dependent on personal preference. Make it as hot and garlicy or as mild as you like. I would call the below proportions medium hot and with enough garlic to add flavor but not be dominating. Judging strictly by my nose, and personal experience I would say that when it comes to garlic an individuals opinion on what is the appropriate amount.... varies widely.

Soy Sauce, Garlic, Hot Pepper (water maybe)

Add soy sauce, 1C or less depending on the size of your pan, not enough to submerge but enough to come in contact with all the pieces and parts of the chicken. (if you rinsed your chicken in the sink there should be a little residual water in the pan and this is OK. If you patted the chicken dry you may want to add a little water at a 4:1 ration soy sauce: water), 3/4 Tbs garlic and a 1 TBS hot pepper flakes.

Turn on the heat and let it cook, simmer for 25 min. or so, until the meat falls off the bone. As long as you don't boil off the liquid your not going to overcook it. Its one of those meals that tastes even better as reheated leftovers.

VEGETABLES: You can add vegetables of your choice midway through the cooking process. it is good with cabbage or zucchini or potatoes, or whatever.

In the meantime prep your rice separately. When done serve the chicken on top of rice. Add juice from the pot, a little or a lot depending on your taste.