Chinese Steamed Chicken Recipes

CHINESE STEAMED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Clean the chicken under running water.
• Remove any internal organs (liver, gizzard, heart) in the chicken cavity.
• Rub some coarse salt all over the surface and in the cavity of the chicken. Wash away the salt and drain.
• Apply the fine salt to the surface and the cavity of the chicken. Marinate the chicken overnight.
• Before steaming, apply some rice wine on the surface plus a tablespoon inside the cavity.
• Insert the ginger slices, bashed garlic, and the green section of the scallions into the cavity.
• Steam the chicken for 20 minutes over medium heat (lid-on). Switch off the stove, but do not remove the lid for another 15 to 25 minutes.
• Place the chicken upward to drain the gravy away in the cavity. Cut and serve after the chicken is completely cold.
• Place all the ingredients except the oil in a heat-resisting bowl.
• Heat two tablespoons of cooking oil until near smoking point. Pour the oil over the ginger and scallion. It is now ready to serve.

EASY STEAM CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place chicken and salt in a bowl. Evenly rub salt into chicken. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Rinse chicken and place in a pot fitted with a steamer basket over water. Bring water to a boil, and steam chicken until juices run clear, about 30 minutes.
• Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until tender. Mix in garlic, and cook about 1 minute. Stir in soy sauce and sesame oil, and remove from heat. Scoop over the chicken to serve. Garnish with cilantro.

CHINESE STEAMED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Rinse the chicken under cold running water and blot completely dry with paper. Rub the salt inside the cavity and on the skin of the chicken. Place the chicken, breast side down, on a heatproof platter, and set aside for 15 minutes.
• Set up a steamer or put a rack into a wok or deep pan. Fill the steamer with about 2 inches of hot water. Bring the water to a simmer. Put the plate with the chicken into the steamer or onto the rack. Cover the steamer tightly and gently steam over medium heat for 1 hour. Replenish the water in the steamer from time to time. Remove the platter with the cooked chicken and pour off all the liquid and reserve to serve over the rice.
• In a small bowl, combine the sugar, salt, soy sauce, ginger and scallions and mix well. In a small pan, heat the peanut and sesame oils until they are smoking. Pour the hot oils over the ginger mixture. Chop the chicken into serving portions (it can be served with or without the skin) and serve immediately with the sauce.

CHINESE STEAMED CHICKEN 中式蒸鸡

Steps:

• First spread salt evenly on both sides of the cleaned chicken. Set aside for 30 minutes. Then place the chicken to steam in the steamer.
• Steam over high fire for about 20 to 30 minutes until done (you can easily insert a chopstick in). The chicken is done when the meat is white and firm to the touch.
• Cut the cooked and tender chicken into pieces of your favourite size and set aside.
• While the chicken is being steamed, minced some ginger and garlic. Also chopped some green onions and have ready some vegetable oil.
• Prepare to cook the sauce. First saute the minced garlic in hot oil.
• Then add the minced ginger. Fry the minced garlic and ginger till fragrant and golden brown in colour.
• Transfer the browned garlic and ginger together with the fragrant oil into a small bowl.
• Add a tablespoon of good quality soy sauce into it and mix everything together. This is a simple but full of aroma sauce.
• Drizzle the aromatic sauce evenly over the chopped chicken. And we're done!
• Garnish with some chopped green onions and red chillies before serving with steamed rice.

STEAMED CHICKEN BUNS

Steps:

• Prepare chicken filling. In a bowl, combine chicken, cabbage, spring onion, ginger, garlic, light soy sauce, pepper, salt, sesame oil, corn flour and chicken stock to form a moist paste. Cover and put in the fridge
• Make bun pastry. Dissolve sugar in water and stir in yeast. Set aside to let it foam. In a big bowl, sift flour and baking powder together. When yeast mix is foamy (around 15 mins), slowly add bit by bit into the flour while stirring at the same time. Keep about 10 - 20 ml of yeast mix for later. Once flour starts to come together, add in the oil and knead into a soft dough - add remaining yeast bit by bit while kneading dough. (knead about 15 - 20mins until dough is smooth) Cover and let it rise in room temperature till double in size (around 30mins) Punch down the dough and knead till smooth (around 5mins). Take roughly about 30g of dough. Roll into a ball, flatten into a circle with your palm, fold the edges to center and overturn the ball (with folded edges facing down) and flatten with your palm again. Use a rolling pin to flatten the edges of the circle, the center of circle should be slightly thicker than the edges. Repeat process with the rest of the dough
• Make and Steam Buns. Fill circles with fillings. Pinch the top part of skin as you rotate the bao in a circular motion and use your thumb to keep the fillings in as you rotate. Pinch and remove the tip of any excess dough on top of the bun. Arrange the buns on parchment paper and plate. Steam in low heat for approximately 15 min.

CHINESE STEAMED CHICKEN WITH GINGER SCALLION SAUCE

Steps:

• Pat dry the chicken. Rub salt on the whole chicken and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Make sure to get some salt in the cavity as well. Use more salt if needed.
• The next day, toast the coriander and fennel on the stove for 10-20 seconds.
• Add coriander, fennel, and the ginger to a small cheese cloth. Tie the ends together to make it into a small spice package. Stuff it into the cavity of the chicken.
• Use kitchen twine to tie the legs together to close the cavity. Use a second piece of twine to tie the legs to the tail. Finally, use one more piece of twine to tie around the length of the chicken (see picture above). The twine should go between the legs and wrap around the length of the chicken. Optional: You can use one more piece of twine to around the height of the chicken which will help you lift it out of the steamer.
• Prepare your steamer pot. Place a heat proof plate on your steamer attachment. Bring water to a boil. Add the chicken to the steamer. Let the chicken steam for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and let the chicken sit for another 20 minutes.
• Carefully take out the chicken with tongs, and remove the spice package from the cavity. Pour the steaming liquid into a small bowl. This liquid can be used in future dishes or to cook the rice.
• Let it cool completely (~10 minutes).
• Once it is cool enough to handle, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Serve with rice and ginger scallion sauce. The chicken can be served at room temperature or cold.

CANTONESE POACHED CHICKEN (BAI QIE JI)

Steps:

• Make sure your chicken is at room temperature (trying to poach a cold chicken right out of the refrigerator will result in uneven cooking or undercooking). Clean the chicken by rinsing it under cold water, paying special attention to the cavity. Any giblets should already be removed but there may still be organs on the inside that should be removed or sometimes stray feathers that need to be plucked. Experts recommend that it's not necessary to wash your chicken before cutting and cooking but in this case for a whole chicken (especially if you get it from a live poultry place or even from Asian markets), it's a step that shouldn't be skipped, in my opinion. When washing and prepping the whole chicken, be very careful about splashing water and contaminating surfaces with unwanted bacteria. Be careful not to break or trim away any of the skin on the chicken, as you don't want the meat exposed to the boiling water as it cooks. This will ensure a moist, silky texture in the final product.
• Fill a large stock pot with water, just enough to submerge the chicken completely. You can determine this by putting the entire chicken in the pot, filling it with water until the chicken is submerged, and then removing the chicken. Do not turn on the heat while the chicken is still in the pot! This method of ensuring you have just enough water to submerge the chicken (and avoiding any extra) will ensure you have a more flavorful stock to save at the end. We used about 18 cups of water to submerge a 4 pound chicken in a deep stock pot.
• Once you have your water properly measured into the pot, add 2 scallions and 5 slices of ginger, and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, slowly lower the chicken into the pot, legs down and head up. It's ok if the breast is peeking out of the water a bit. The water will cool down and stop boiling when you add the chicken, so bring it up to a boil once again, and do not walk away from the pot.
• Once the water boils again, IMMEDIATELY lift the chicken out of the water very carefully. You can carefully hook two wooden spoons under the wings to lift the chicken up. The goal is to empty any colder water that may be trapped inside the cavity. Once you've released that water, lower the chicken back into the pot, and bring to a boil again.
• When the water is JUST starting to boil, turn the heat down. Keep it at barely a simmer. There should be very little movement in the water, but it also shouldn't be still. Cover the pot, and keep the heat around the lowest setting so the liquid continues to simmer slowly. Cook for about 35-40 minutes, roughly 10-11 minutes per pound. Depending on the size of your chicken, it may take more or less time to cook it through. You can check to make sure the water is bubbling slowly/gently and not boiling too vigorously, but try to avoid uncovering the pot while it's cooking.
• Poke a chopstick or skewer into the thigh to check for doneness. If the juices run clear, it's done. Carefully lift the chicken out of the pot and transfer it to a large bowl of ice water. Cool completely.
• While the chicken is cooling, make the sauce. You have the option to make two versions-one with just scallions, ginger, oil and salt, and one with soy sauce. The plain version is more traditional, as it really lets the flavors of chicken, ginger, and scallion shine through. Judy loves to add soy sauce, and it's also a tasty option! Start with the plain version, and then scoop some of it out into another bowl and add soy sauce. Try both and see which your loved ones like best!
• When the chicken is out of the ice water, you can brush it lightly with oil or some of the fat floating atop the poaching liquid to give it that enticing, shiny look!
• To serve, carve your chicken into pieces that you can easily grab with chopsticks. Serve with your sauce(s) and some steamed rice.

CHINESE-STYLE STEAMED CHICKEN & BROCCOLI

Steps:

• Cut boneless, skinless chicken breast into 1 inch cubes (2.5 cm). Add to medium bowl and set aside.
• Finely mince garlic and ginger and add to bowl. Slice the green onions (white parts and half of the green). Add white onion slices to the bowl with the chicken. Reserve sliced green part for garnish.
• Add the lite tamari and red hot chile pepper flakes to the chicken and toss to coat well. If you have extra time, let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
• Cut the top head off broccoli and set aside. Use a sharp knife to peel outer coating from lower stalks. Cut top into florets about 2 inches (5 cm) each. Slice stalks into rounds ¼ inch (1.25 cm) thick. Set aside.
• Put brown rice on to cook in unsalted water according to directions of rice cooker. One cup of raw rice is usually enough for four.
• After the rice has cooked for 35 minutes, place chicken in the steamer basket over the rice. Pour any remaining tamari mixture over chicken. Cover with lid. Steam over cooking rice for seven minutes.
• Turn chicken pieces, add broccoli, cover, and continue steaming until chicken is cooked through and broccoli is tender crisp - about 7-8 minutes more. The rice cooker should have switched to warm by now. If not, remove steamer basket with chicken and broccoli and keep warm while rice finishes.
• Serve chicken and broccoli over cooked brown rice. Garnish with sliced green onion (optional garnish).