醬油雞 | Soy Sauce Chicken

December 29, 2020

White cut chicken 白切鷄 and soy sauce chicken 醬油雞 are almost on every table in Cantonese restaurants. Cantonese loves chicken, and loves the origin flavor of chicken, thus strong spices are not commonly used for cooking chicken. Both of these chicken cook in boiling water for 30secs and dip in ice water to have chewy skin, then for further marinating. I did not expect soy sauce chicken to have such straightforward process. Nevertheless, this is nothing compared to the taste of soy sauce chicken from hometown!!

QUICK TAKEAWAYS

raw chicken thighs should quick dip in boiling water for 30secs and place in ice water right away to have chewy skin
temperature to cook chicken thigh in soy sauce should maintain 70-90C the whole time. Sometimes turning heat off also works! High temperature and long time might result in drier texture, so cooking at lower temperature is ideal.
rock sugars and rose water give soy sauce chicken the distinct fragrance and sweetness!!
if soy sauce not salty enough or loss flavor after cooking a few times, can add salt/soy sauce to sauce; or to marinate chicken thigh ahead of time.

RECIPE

chick thighs
ginger slices
scallion chunks
garlic cloves (no need to peel off skin)
shallot halves
rock sugars
2-3 star anises
1 cinnamon
soy sauce 生抽
traditional soy sauce 老抽
rice wine
rose water

Step 1: cook ginger slices on oil over low heat till ginger juice comes out

Step 2: stir fry scallion chunks, garlic cloves, shallot halves, 2-3 star anises, 1 cinnamon till fragrance comes out

Step 3: add 1 bowl of water, 1.5 bowls of soy sauce 生抽, 0.5 bowl of traditional soy sauce 老抽, and rock sugars to pan; bring to boil and cook in mid heat for 3 minutes

Step 4: in another pot, bring water with ginger slices, scallion chunks, rice wine to boil; cook chicken thighs for 30secs; bring out and dip in ice water so the skin becomes chewy~ you will see “goose”bumps on chicken skin 🙂

Step 5: transfer chicken thighs to soy sauce pot, skin faces up. Scoop sauce and pour on chicken thigh skin for darker color for 15mins. Temperature should maintain 70-90C the whole time!!