Poached Chicken and Choy Sum with Garlic and Ginger Sauce

Poached Chicken and Choy Sum (Hakka-style) with Garlic and Ginger Sauce - Diversivore.com

Poached Chicken and Choy Sum with Garlic and Ginger Sauce

Poaching meats has gone out of vogue in many circles, but with care and an interesting technique, it can yield some of the most delicious, tender chicken ever.

Course Main Dishes

Cuisine Chinese, Chinese (Hakka)

Keyword chinese poached chicken, choy sum with garlic and ginger, hakka chicken recipe, hakka poached chicken

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings people

Calories 298kcal

Ingredients

Chicken and Yu Choy

700 g boneless skinless chicken breasts fillet piece removed
350 g choy sum (see note)
3 l water
10 g ginger sliced into 3-4 pieces
1 star anise pod (optional)
1/2 tsp black pepper (optional)

Sauce

30 g garlic minced (~3 tbsp/12-14 cloves)
20 g ginger finely diced (~2 tbsp)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions

Combine the water, sliced ginger, star anise and black pepper in a large, heavy pot. Be sure to use the amount of water indicated, as the chicken may not cook properly in a smaller volume. Bring the water to a boil.
Add the chicken to the water and return to a boil, then remove from heat and cover. Let stand until the chicken is cooked through -- about 20 minutes. Test for doneness by checking the temperature in the thickest part of the breast, or by cutting into a piece. The meat should appear moist and VERY lightly tinged pink.
Once the chicken is cooked, set it aside and return the water to a boil. Add the choy sum to the boiling water and cook until the stems are softened -- about 2 minutes. Remove the greens from the water and drain, rinsing briefly with cold water.
(Optional) If you're serving the meal with noodles, cook them in the same poaching liquid for extra flavour.
Combine the soy sauce, cooking wine, and sugar and set aside.
Heat a wok (or large pan) over medium heat. Add the vegetable oil and let stand for 1 minute. Once the oil looks hot, add a tiny pinch of garlic to see if it sizzles. If it does, add all of the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden brown. Add the soy sauce/wine/sugar to the wok, stir the ingredients together, and immediately pour the sauce from the wok to a bowl. Set aside to cool slightly.
Serve the chicken and choy sum (with noodles or rice if you like), drizzled with the the sauce. Be sure to get lots of little pieces of ginger and garlic in there, and not just the liquid.

Notes

The garlic can be minced by hand, but the pieces have to be equal in size. Big pieces won't cook enough while small pieces will burn. If you don't want to dice the garlic, a garlic press does a great job.

The ginger also needs to be minced to an equal size, and this must be done by hand. Grated ginger will be much too wet and will spatter badly in the oil. This is best achieved by slicing the ginger thinly, julienning the slices, and chopping the resulting sticks of ginger.

Nutrition