Dinner Tonight: Soy Poached Chicken
I'm currently between apartments, crashing at friend's place for a week until I can safely move in to a new place. This means all my spices and gadgets are boxed up and hanging out in a storage unit far away from me. All I have are my condiments, which I knew would go bad if I left them out of the fridge for a week. That's really the only reason I settled on this recipe for soy-poached chicken from the New York Times. I knew I had a huge bottle of mushroom-flavored soy sauce, and I could easily pick up everything else at the Trader Joe's by my current residence.
Luckily, the recipe is from Mark Bittman, whose recipes are always flavorful. Much like other braised chicken dishes I've tried, this one is littered with ginger. To that, Bittman adds the aforementioned mushroom soy sauce (regular soy sauce can probably be substituted, but I have no proof of this), mei kuei lu chiew (which you can substitute an off-dry Gewurztraminer for), sugar, and water. The chicken cooks at a boil for 10 minutes breast side down, and then it is flipped, the heat is killed, and the bird bathes in the broth for 15 minutes to hopefully finish cooking.
Except mine didn't get done. When I cut into the legs I noticed they were nearly raw. I blame this on the fact that my bird was a four-pounder and not the skinny 2 1/2 pounds that was recommended. It's not a huge deal; I just brought the liquid back to a boil and cooked the bird for an extra five minutes. The chicken comes out perfumed with ginger, star anise, and that mushroom soy sauce, but the skin does look a little pale. This is solved by tossing it in a very hot oven for five minutes to crisp the skin up. The chicken is utterly delicious, but it's the sauce that I loved the most. When I finished my plate I ate the sauce from the bowl with a spoon.
About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a freelance writer in Chicago and the co-founder of The Paupered Chef.
Soy-Poached Chicken
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
3 cups mushroom soy sauce
3 cups off-dry white wine
1 cup sugar
3 ounces ginger, peeled and sliced
10 scallions
1 2-1/2 to 3 pound chicken
2 star anise
Procedure
1. Pour the mushroom soy sauce, white wine, and 2 cups of water into a large pot set over. Add the star anise, sugar, and ginger and turn the heat to medium-high. When it comes to a boil add the scallions and carefully lower the chicken in, breast side down. Bring back to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, and flip the bird over to the other side and let it sit in the liquid for 15 minutes. Check to see if the leg meat is cooked. If it is not, then return the liquid to a boil and cook leg side down for an extra 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500°F. Chop the remaining scallions.
3. Remove the chicken from the pot, and transfer to a roasting pan. Place in the oven and cook for about 5 minutes. Keep a constant eye on it making sure the skin doesn't burn.
4. Meanwhile, bring the liquid in the pot back to a boil. Once hot, turn off the heat and add the chopped scallions.
5. Carve the bird and serve with extra sauce on the side.
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4 Comments:
Mushroom soy sauce adds depth of flavor to the broth. Light soy would be too little, so mix that with dark soy (or kecap manis) for something more savory. A little orange peel and cinnamon bark will also spice the sauce and cut through fat if you have an especially lardo chicken.
JungMan at 5:03PM on 07/01/09
I've used that recipe too and found that you can get a nice lacquer on the skin by basting the chicken with some of the poaching liquid while it roasts. Yes, it takes a little longer with the whole opening of the oven door thing, but it's worth it. Sometimes I add tangerine juice and some zest to the liquid.
Also, the fat that renders out of the bird and floats to the top of the liquid can be used as an amazing fried rice base - just do what you normally do with soups - chill & skim. Phenomenal.
shoneyjoe at 2:27AM on 07/02/09
Isn't this usually called "Red-cooked Chicken"? I basically have the same ingredients, though mine includes half a bottle of dark soy. My chicken comes out darker and I don't crisp up the skin the oven, the chicken still tastes fantastic. Add bonus, skim off the fat, freeze the remaining sauce and use it the next time you want soy sauce chicken.
AnnieNT at 3:19PM on 07/02/09
I make something very similar to this.
Mei kuei lu chiew a rose flavored distilled alcohol. I would substitute unsprayed rose petals and chicken broth for the wine or rose water (which you can get at an Indian store). Of course, one doesn't consume the petals.
I have Bittman's book "How to Cook Everything". It is a really wonderful book. All of the recipes that I have made from it are very good.
joe1155 at 2:23PM on 10/28/09