Two simple ways to cook chicken legs with skin (台式照燒雞, 廣式鼓油雞）

Previously, we wrote a recipe for Taiwan-style Three-Cup Chicken (台式三杯雞), when we used boneless, skinless chicken leg meat.  That turned out to be the only chicken main dish I dared to try in my first 18 months of learning to cook, mainly because cooked chicken (or turkey) meat often started to emanate this funny (almost stinky) smell the next day (after being refrigerated).  Here we venture into cooking chicken legs with skin and bone (making this a realistic challenge), using two simple traditional cooking methods, braise (i.e., fry lightly and stew slowly in covered pot, a method we used on pork hock and pork ribs) and stew.

I.  Taiwan-style Braised Chicken, aka Teriyaki Chicken (台式照燒雞) and Traditional Braised Chicken (紅燒雞) 

1. Get ~1 pounds of boneless chicken legs (with skin), or Costco chicken thigh in vacuum pack (with bone and skin, already cut into 3 pieces; non-frozen; remove bone with kitchen scissors, like this pair from Amazon).  Make some parallel cuts in the middle of the skin.   (Optionally) Marinate with salt and rice cooking wine for 30 minutes (no need to marinate if in a hurry, the sauce below is rich with flavors already). 
2. Prepare Teriyaki Sauce by mixing 2 Tbsp of soy sauce, 2 Tbsp of rice cooking wine, and 1 Tbsp of honey or brown sugar.
3. Place the chicken with skin-side down on a dry frying pan (without oil).  Turn on medium-to-high heat for 1-2 minutes, change to medium-to-low heat for 5-6 minutes (till skin is golden brown; move and check frequently to make sure the skin is not burnt).  Flip the chicken to meat side (to fry lightly in the oil produced from frying the skin side, 2-3 minutes).  Strain out excess oil from the pan.  
4. Pour the Teriyaki Sauce into the pan.  Cover the lid, and cook at medium heat for 4-5 minutes.  Flip chicken back to skin-side down.  Cook with lid off for 2-3 minutes, to reduce the sauce to half or less.  
5. Cut the chicken into your favorite bite size, and place the pieces in a plate.  Spoon some sauce on top of chicken.  Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds on top.  Garnish with cilantro leaves or minced scallions, and serve.  Here is a picture of the finished product.  Note- Simply remove the skin (a cinch after this method of cooking), if it is too fatty.  Alternatively, use an oven-safe pan, such as a cast-iron skillet, in Step 3 and 4 above, place the skillet with chicken skin side up in the top rack of an oven at the end of Step 4, turn on broiler for a minute or two (3-4 minutes for thick-skinned chicken, such as the Costco chicken), to crisp and brown the skin (Broiler Alert- Be extra careful with the 500-deg-F broiler!!  Pull the top rack out, instead of reaching in, to get hold of the cast-iron skillet!)
   
6. Traditional Braised Chicken (紅燒雞)- In Step 2 above, prepare Traditional Sauce: 2 Tbsp of soy sauce, 2 Tbsp of rice cooking wine, 1-2 stalks of scallion (cut into 1-2" segments), 4-6 slices of ginger.  In Step 4 above, pour in Traditional Sauce.  In Step 5 above, no sesame seeds. Here is a picture of the final product (after 3-4 minutes of broiling). 
   

II.  Cantonese-style Chicken in Seafood Soy Sauce (廣式鼓油雞)

1. Get two pieces of chicken leg-and-thigh (with skin and bone), rinse thoroughly, trim excess fat with a pair of kitchen scissors.  Making some parallel cuts in the middle of the skin.  No need to marinate. 
2. Place 2-3 stalks of scallions (2-3" segments), 4-6 slices of ginger, 4-6 Tbsp of Soy Sauce (or, 2-3 Tbsp of soy sauce and 2-3 Tbsp of Oyster Sauce), 2 Tbsp of Fish Sauce (魚露), and 1/2 tsp of salt, in a large covered pot.  Place  both chicken legs flat in the pot side by side.  Add water to at least half the depth of the legs.  Note- For lighter taste, there is no need to add salt, because both soy sauce and fish sauce are salty.
3. Bring to boil and let simmer in covered pot for 10 minutes on each side (add 5 minutes if the chicken is still in frozen form, i.e., not defrosted).  Turn off heat.  Keep the lid on for another 10-15 mins.
4. Cut the meat layer of the leg with knife.  Use kitchen scissors to cut the bone (see this pair of kitchen scissors from Amazon).  Ladle sauce on top of the chicken.  Garnish with cilantro leaves or minced scallions, and serve.  Here is a picture of the finished product.