This year for Chinese New Year, I decided to make my own soy sauce chicken instead. One of the perks of being a food allergy mom is you learn to DIY and make everything from scratch. And you would be amazed how good of a chef you become and how easy and delicious food made from scratch can be.
After a search on the Internet, I came across this recipe from China Sichuan Food. I have to say that I am becoming a huge fan of China Sichuan Food and all of the recipes posted by Elaine on her site. Her soy sauce chicken recipe is insanely delicious and flavorful. It was so good that I was asked if I had purchased it from a Chinese barbecue house!
This recipe is a definite keeper and I can't wait to remake it again.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, 2.5 lbs
Marinade
1 inch ginger root, julienned
1 sprig of green onion, sliced diagonally
1/4 cup soy sauce
Sauce
3 inch ginger, sliced
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 cup water
1 tsp white sugar
2 bay leaves
3 star anise
1 cinnamon bark
Directions
1. Wash the inside of the chicken to rinse out any loose giblets. Pat dry with clean paper towels and place in a large Ziploc bag.
2. Mix the marinade in a small bowl and pour it in to the Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air from the bag as possible before closing the bag. Massage the marinade all over the chicken and allow it to marinate for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Half an hour before cooking, take the chicken out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.
4. In a dutch oven or a heavy bottomed pot over high heat, add the ingredients for the sauce: ginger, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, water, white sugar, bay leaves, star anise and cinnamon bark. Bring all of the ingredients to a boil.
5. Take the chicken out of the Ziploc bag. Discard the ginger, spring onion and pour the marinating liquid into the dutch oven.
6. Once the sauce reaches a boil, gently lower the chicken into the dutch oven, and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Turn the heat down to medium, cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.
8. Using tongs and a wooden spoon, flip the chicken over and cook for another 5 minutes. (I like inserting the tongs into the cavity of the chicken and using the wooden spoon to flip).
9. Flip the chicken again and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
10. Once the chicken is cooked, take the chicken out of the dutch oven and place on a serving plate.
11. With tongs, pick out the bay leave, star anise, ginger and cinnamon bark. Turn the heat up to high and reduce the sauce until it is slightly thickened. Pour the sauce through a gravy separator to get rid of the fat.
12. Brush the chicken with the sauce and save the remainder of the sauce as a dipping sauce. Allow the chicken to cool slightly before cutting and serving.
Make Ahead
The chicken can be made a day ahead and reheated in the oven at 350 degrees F. Place the chicken in an oven safe pan, loosely covered with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until heated through. Heat the sauce in the microwave until hot and serve as a dipping sauce.
Source: Slightly adapted from China Sichuan Food
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