Makes 80% of the chicken weight.
Before starting, remember to always use disposable gloves when manipulating raw chicken and to sanitize all surfaces and tools immediately after to avoid cross-contamination.
Chicken thighs should be thawed before starting.
If using ground star anise, jump to the next step. If using whole star anise, blend together the star anise, lemon pepper, and cayenne pepper.
Add all the spices into the wine and stir well to make the marinade.
Add the chicken thighs into a big, deep stainless steel tray. Drain any excess blood and water from the tray.
Add the marinade and mix well to marinate the chicken. Cover the tray with a lid of the right size, or with aluminium foil.
Slow cook in the bottom oven at 90ºC. After 5 hours, check the temperature at the center of the thickest piece of chicken using a kitchen thermometer. The chicken will be ready when the internal temperature reaches 75ºC. If it’s not ready yet, cook it longer and keep checking the temperature until done.
Cool down the tray with the chicken in the blast chiller found at the main kitchen, or in the main kitchen’s cool room if the blast chiller is unavailable. The chicken must be cold before you proceed.
Once cold, drain the excess liquid from the tray and cut the chicken inside the tray using two spatulas. Don’t overdo it, it should be slightly chunkie, although if it has been slow cooked correctly it will easily shred.
Portion into large vacuum sealer bags, 2kg per bag.
Vacuum at level 10 and label properly.
Store in the cool room.