Place the chicken pieces in a large container or plastic, sealable bag.
In a bowl mix together the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, peppercorns, garlic cloves and bay leaves. Pour this mixture over the chicken, turning to coat and seal. Refrigerate overnight or minimum 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Place the chicken and marinade in a 13x9" baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Uncover, turn the chicken, baste with braising liquid and cook uncovered for another 30 minutes or when chicken internal temp reaches 165°F.
Remove the chicken and keep warm covered with the aluminum foil. Pour the braining liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce by half to thicken. Season to taste. Baste and pour this over the chicken when serving with green onions and steamed rice.
Video
Notes
1. To keep it on the "authentic" side I took the time to seek out coconut vinegar, which is key, and was not that big of an effort to find. I went to my local asian market. If you don't want to I'm here to share some substitute options with you. Coconut vinegar has a cloudy, white appearance and a slightly milder taste than apple cider vinegar.Most recipes say to use white vinegar or cider vinegar and sure that would work, but when I looked up substitutes for coconut vinegar I found several options.Substitutes:
cane vinegar another not found in everyones pantry
use 3 parts white vinegar plus 1 part water,
use 3 parts white vinegar plus 1 part white wine vinegar
use 3 parts white vinegar plus 1 part cider vinegar
2. Regular or brown sugar can be substituted for the coconut sugar if you like.