Is it worth braising boneless skinless chicken thighs? All the braising videos and recipes I see call for bone-in, skin-on. The way I understand it, the stew will take on the flavor of the meat through the fat liquifying into a broth.
I'm specifically trying to make Dak Dori Tang or Dak Bokkeum Tang (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dak-bokkeum-tang).
I've seen 4 videos of this on YouTube. Some sear the meat first, and set it aside. Some don't sear the meat at all. Some simmer it for almost an hour (I simmered my batch for 20 minutes, and it was stringy and heavily overcooked, though it was breast), others simmer it for less. All of them pretty much put in the potatoes right as the chicken goes in or well after, never before. My broth tasted like nothing. Luckily, the vegetables–onions and sweet potatoes–were nicely cooked after 15 minutes simmering.
Best Answer
Asking if something is worth it is opinion based, so I will address the differences between the results you get braising chicken thighs skin on and off as I've done both many times.
Chicken thigh skins have a lot of fat, when you braise the fat stays in the end result because there's nowhere for it to go, which can make it too greasy for some tastes. The chicken skin takes on a very limp consistency, which is also not to everyone's taste but you can pull it off before serving to cater to preferences. The chicken flavor is a little stronger with the skins on
Skinless gives a less fatty result, the chicken flavor is a bit less but still pretty strong. I've tried browning the meat directly, I personally don't like the result as the texture changes aren't worth the flavor you get from doing it, but you'd likely want to try it yourself.
I personally find leaving the skins on ends up being too greasy, but I like the flavor you get from browning the skins, so I've come up with a hybrid method. I skin all the chicken, then I fry off 4 skins in the braising pot until they get nice and brown, remove them and discard before adding all the chicken pieces, stock and everything else. This gives a good balance.