Soy Sauce Chicken

Happy Friday!  This week I am still busy after the long weekend breaks.  It is May now.  I am looking for some ideas for celebrating my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in the end of this month. If you have some brilliant ideas, please share.  Today I prepare a wonderful dish that my mom and dad love it very much. It is soy sauce chicken which is simple and easy.  Hope all of you enjoy!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Serve: 4

Ingredients:

-      1 free-range chicken (about 1.8 kg)

-      ½ cup light soy sauce      

-      ¼ cup dark soy sauce

-      10g ginger(6 slices)

-      2 spring onion (sliced)

-      2 garlic cloves (sliced)

-      30g rock sugar

-      2 tbsp Shaoxing wine

-      ½ tsp table salt

-      1 slice dried mandarin peel (soaped in warm water until tender)

-      ¾ cup water

-      1½ tsp vegetable oil

Method:

1.	Use a towel to make the chicken dry after cleaning.  Tie the chicken legs together by using a piece of white string.  Rub the chicken all over with Shaoxing wine.  Marinate the inside body of the chicken with salt.  Then stuff the chicken cavity with half of the spring onions and 3 slices of ginger.  Set it aside for 10 minutes.
2.	In a mixing bowl, add soy sauce, dark soy sauce and water and mix well.  Set aside.
3.	Heat a non-stick wok or pot over medium heat.  Add oil, ginger, spring onion and garlic.  Stir-fry for 1 minute, add the mixture of soy sauce.  In the meantime, reduce to low heat, add mandarin peel and sugar.  Then boil until the sugar is dissolved.
4.	Toss in the chicken.  Baste the exposed area with cooking sauce.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Use a pair of large chopsticks to turn the chicken upside down carefully and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Baste the chicken a few times during cooking. Then turn the chicken to another side again and simmer for a further 15 minutes.  Check whether it is cooked by inserting a thin skewer or a thick needle in one of the thigh joints. If it is cooked, it produces clear liquid.  Once cooked, switch off the fire and let it rest inside the pot for 15 minutes.
5.	Serve the carved chicken on a big plate.  Spoon the sauce from the pot over the chicken and ready to serve.
	Tips:
i.	Do not simmer the chicken over medium or high heat.  Otherwise, the chicken will be overcooked and the meat is not smooth and tender.
ii.	The cooking time depends on how big the chicken is.

Stewed Chicken with 3-cup sauce (Taiwanese dish)

I have been Taiwan for a few times.  I like the tea plantations in Taipei very much, especially those near Maokong.  Last year I spent one day in visiting some tea plantations.  I tasted different varieties of tea and tried this yummy dish - stew chicken with 3-cup sauce there.  

The 3-cup sauce means the proportion of rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil should be 1:1:1. Since  I would like to cook in a more light and healthy way,  I modify the proportion of the 3-cup sauce in this recipe. 

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

Ø  ¼ chicken (500g) 

Ø  4 slices of ginger

Ø  3 garlic cloves (peeled and sliced)

Ø  ½ shallot (peeled and sliced)

Ø  1 small hot pepper (remove seeds and cut into strips)

Ø  1 spring onion (cut into strips)

Ø  5 tbsp water

Ø  1tsp veg oil

Ø  ½ tsp sesame oil

Ø  12g / 1 tbsp rock sugar

Ø  1 tbsp rice wine / white wine

Ø  2 tsp dark soy sauce

Ø  1 tsp soy sauce

Ø  Small handful basil leaves (12g)

Seasoning:

Ø  ½ tsp sesame oil

Ø  1 tsp rice wine

Ø  1 tsp dark soy sauce

Ø  1 tsp soy sauce

Ø  a little ground black pepper

Method:

1.	Cut the chicken into pieces. Season the chicken well with sesame oil, wine, dark soy sauce, soy sauce and black pepper for 15 minutes.
2.	Heat a casserole over medium heat, put veg oil and sesame oil into it.   Add ginger, garlic and shallot and stir fry for 1-2 minute(s).
3.	Meanwhile, add the hot pepper and chicken into the casserole and  stir fry for 1 minute.
4.	Add water, rock sugar, spring onion, soy sauce, dark soy sauce  and wine.  Stir well and cover the casserole to cook for 8-10 minutes until dry.
5.	Add basil leaves and stir, cover the casserole for 10 seconds.
6.	Serve with a bowl of rice if you like.