Soy Sauce Chicken, all plump and yummy
This is a recipe from an old hand-down recipe book printed in the 60s. Doesn't have cover and back anymore so I can't tell who, what, where. This recipe makes the best soy sauce chicken, give and take some adjustments made to the seasonings. It's a recipe for keeps.
The Best Soy Sauce Chicken
2 1/2kg corn-fed chicken
2 cups water
1/2 chicken stock cube
2 star anise
1 t Sichuan peppercorns
1 large piece dried tangerine/mandarin peel
4 T Kikkoman light soy sauce
6 T dark soy sauce
4 T brown sugar/rock sugar
4 T shao xin wine*
1. Put all the above (except chicken) into a pot or wok (not too big or the sauce wouldn't be able to cover much of the chicken) and when it boils, lower the chicken in, thigh-side down. Cover, turn heat to medium-low and simmer 40 min. Once in a while, move the chicken around so the skin won't burn. Halfway through, turn the chicken over to get even browning. Use a skewer to pierce the thickest part of the thigh. If the juice that runs out is reddish, give it another 3 min or so, switch off fire and let it steep in the sauce and heat for a couple of min.
2. Take chicken out, put heat on high and reduce sauce till it's thick, but not too much as it'll thicken further upon cooling. Skim off oil.
3. If like, rub cooled chicken with sesame oil before cutting into small serving pieces. Spoon some sauce over or serve it separately. A plate of white rice, some greens or sliced cuke will go well with this.
*Note: MIL says "Beware of clones! Pagoda Brand is the best." You may have better brands wherever you are, but in KK, Pagoda's best.
36 comments:
OMG! Droooool!
That sounds so easy to do - and you don't even need an oven (you know the issues I have with ovens!)
BTW terri I really, really would like some photos from you. If you don't want to show any of yourself that's ok. But would love some foodie ones.
The other bloggers have sent pix of themselves. Just wouldn't want to not include your photo as well.
Or...maybe I'll sneakily "borrow" the most droolworthy food photo from your archives :)
But don't worry - full credit will be given to your blog :)
Please let me know if this is ok - I know you're busy and probably won't have time to email photos to me. So this is probably the easiest way to go about it. Any thoughts?
ok Shan i'll take pic 2day n send..was down with flu last week so looked like a, em, septuagenarion (sp?). I'll send by 2day. use whatever pic u like, but of the food i cooked, not the restaurant ones. em, how about d molten choc cake (have u tried it yet??u must or i'm withholding affection...)and d soy sauce chicken?when is article coming out? i'll standby n buy all d copies!
hey, if u have to send article in by 2day go ahead. Hope u'll have more projects; i'm sure it's well-written!
The soy sauce chicken looks so good. It's so hard to believe that it is that easy to do. Will try and hope the chicken turns out as good as it looks in your pic.
Hi Terri - cool I'll wait for your pics and I'll borrow a couple of your own photos too. No worries, strictly non-restaurant ones.
Heh - no have not had time to bake but I have passed the recipe on to a friend. Will bully her into making it for me.
I will probably email the article out by tomorrow morning. Hopefully the article will come out in 3-4 weeks time.
Don't worry, when I know the date for sure I'll tell EVERYONE to buy the paper hehe :)
So yummy n that makes me so hungry!!
Now you've made me lick the screen!
Wow!! I'm impressed! I'm glad I found your blog while random surfing. It's a treasure find.
I see lots of recipes I could use to cook for hubs and kids. I don't cook Chinese because my mum's a fantastic cook and I never could learn from her because it had to be 'her way' or else....
I decided to go 'my' way and cook Japanese and Italian instead. Lol! Sadly though..hubs is very China man and likes to eat Chinese. I think he'll be very grateful I found your blog. Ha! Ha! More Chinese cooking from the wife!
Is it okay if I link you. I just love your blog.
raina: next time i go eat at ur hse, u'll cook, not maid or Kiet ok??
shan: got d pics? make sure they come out grainy!
jj: TQ, keep on licking d sreen!
bento pet:TQ, my head just swelled one size. love ur blog too, the layout is nice n i like tt u wiki too!plus u express urself well. kindred spirit?
note to shan: other than getting big-headed on nice comments, i make new friends kinda like old days when we have pen-pals. did u read Sunday's Star? there was an article on blogging, how the opposition has caught on, using blogging as a media, but not BN. blogging also lets me catch up with friends around the world (my ex-roomie from uni who lives in SF started a blog after i told her, n from her blog i just learnt she's travelling in Costa Rica). i wish this came earlier so i could've blgged about my kids from infant stage n they can read about it when they're older.
Aiya, how can you ask me to cook for an excellent cook? You are giving me a lot of pressure. Give me time.. lots of it.
raina: excuses! hey, rmber to round d other 2 up for some bonding time during school hols. i forget to wish vms on her bday!
I've just put the chicken into the pot to simmer. When it's done and dinner over, let you know the result.
Couldn't find any dried tangerine in my kitchen and mum's out playing mahjong - don't want to disturb her.
What's Sichuan peppercorns? I used Sabah peppercorns ok ah? BTW what's the difference btwn light soy sauce and dark soy sauce?
Sorry lah! I hardly cook anything Chinese except for a handful of recipes that I know by heart. Is the dark soy sauce the thick soy sauce? Thks!!
What??em, r u not Chinese?! Ok, *takes deep breath* here goes:
1.Sichuan peps r Sichuan peps, no substitute!
2. Tangerine or mandarin peel is a key ingredients! U cannot make my soy chick w/o it! Buy it at Chinese herbal shops..
3. Dark soy sauce is not the thick "anticipation" sauce tt never drips out from d bottle. It's liquidy but darker than light (duh!) n some brands sell it as 'mushroom soy sauce'. Aiya. u remind me of my girl Yi:)
Absolutely Chinese. No adulteration to the blood. Just DON'T cook Chinese much. Cook a lot of Japanese though.
Japanese recipes also have light and dark shoyu. Should have used mine. Sigh!
Mum's side of the kitchen only has light soy sauce and thick black sauce. Mum doesn't use dark soy sauce, I think. Anyway will buy a bottle when I go grocery shopping.
Ouch!! Chicken's done without the Tangerine peel and simmered in Sabah peppercorns....sigh! Will buy some tomorrow at the Chinese med. shop.
Chicken looks great and smells good. Tasted the sauce and it's very nice. Will tuck in when the rest get home and let you know how the response was. He! He!
Bento:)U've created ur own soy sauce chicken n I bet it's very good!
Chicken was delicious!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
bento: but but but..it's ur recipe!
what the...19 comments?!?!
I'll bump it up to 20, hehe!
Slurps...the chicken is glowing!! Looks so yummy. But do you think adding in garlic (with skin) into the pot of soya would enhance the taste further?
I'm sure it would only enhance d taste :)
Hi Terri,
Firstly... may I start off by congratulating you on a wonderful and very informative and entertaining blog.
I have been a silent reader/fan for a while. A word of appreciation and thanks because your blog provides me with a daily dose of culinary education as well as entertainment. Well done!
Being a working wife (hence not much time to do extensive cooking) and new mother (to an adorable ten-month old little boy, sorry for calling my little one "adorable" but I can't help it.... I reckon all mothers are biased and think the world of their kids) it’s not easy to find recipes which are good and easy to follow, not to mention almost foolproof. Thanks to you I now can get dinner on the table without much hassle and actually get some compliments from the hubby.
For this particular recipe, just wondering if I can replace the whole chicken with just chicken maryland (ie. drumstick and thigh). If I were to make it with a whole chicken we will have difficulty finishing the chicken in one meal. In addition, I'm not very good at chopping chicken..... since never really done it before.
Also, can I use other type of soy sauce instead of kikoman ?!
Thanks again and do continue with your wonderful blog.
Jackie
Hello again! I will try this recipe tonight or tomorrow or until I bought all the ingredients. however, i am wondering where can i buy the sao xin wine.. is it available at wellcome or CRC stores? well, I'll try to look for it while waiting for your reply :)
thank you again for the steamed fish recipe, My hubby commented on my cooking for the very first time haha! he said I'm getting good at cooking. I wanna impress him more:) thanks to you so much!! God Bless
kons: try getting ita t asian grocers (where do u live? i'm not familiar with CRC but have seen wellcome b4, in china i think). if u want to see how the bottle looks like, check my drunken chicken post. tthis soy sauce chicken is really tasty, i'm sure ur hub would love it! tell me how it turned out!
jackie: gosh, i'm sorry i just noticed ur comment! welcome to this blog (if u r still visiting...) how's the little one?
it's good to know ppl r really trying out my recipes. sometimes wonder if i shd continue giving out recipes (for free) when there's no feedback. but based on the no of visitors, plus occasional comments like urs, i am encouraged!
yes u can use whole chicken legs and other parts but reduce the cooking time to say 20 to 30 minutes. say, do try my soy duck too. if u don't use kikkoman, use another good brand of light soy sauce. tell me how it went!
Dear Terri,
I got some of the ingredients last night at our local store. But I still need to find the star anise, sichuan peppercorn, and sao xin wine. i believe I could buy them at superstore on thursday *my off work* So I have to wait 1 more day to try it *sigh*
Hi Terri,
Thanks for your reply.
I have yet to try out your recipe as I didn't have the mandarin peel. Will most definitely try it soon and will let you know how it went.
Am a bit embarrassed to say that I visit your blog almost daily. Definitely not a stalker... just someone who appreciates your good work. Love your writing style and also the recipes you so kindly share.
My little one just turned 1 couple of days ago... amazing milestone for a "new" mother I think!!!
Thanks.
Jackie
jackie: happy birthday to the little sweetheart! if u ever want to so a cute cake for a little boy, try rory lion on my blog.
by all means stalk this blog :), n thanks for ur encouragemt!
So the chicken is boiled in soy sauce? looks good I might like to try this. is this also called braising?
I used this recipe and it was awesome! I only made 2 variations which was a) to include cardamoms for abit of that spice and b) add oyster sauce to darken it.
Thanks for posting this!
Great recipe. I omitted the szechuan peppercorns and Mandarin peel because I couldn't find any at the market.
fantastic idea my friend!
momgateway@gmail.com
Wow! Fantastic idea, so elegant and breathtaking!
momgateway@gmail.com
Tried the soy sauce chicken today.
Taste fantastic. The chicken meat and the skin was really good...."tan ngai"
I don't know what cause the texture of the chicken to be so good.
Thanks for such a fantastic recipe.
warm regards
ellen
Hi Terri,
My friend made this dish last week and said it was great so I am making today for 3 fathers on Father's Day. Can't get Sichuan peppercorn from Radiant Asia at Foh Sng which I Thought is a big herbal shop. It's in the pot simmering now. Smells great:) thanks for the great recipe. Very likely to become our home's fav!
anna
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