POACHED CHICKEN, for the anti-rubber-chicken brigade and especially the ill and infirm, Easy-peasy

Chicken, Jim, but not as we know it!  Astonishingly succulent, sweet, tender chicken   

first posted Jan 2016

Clean, lean, moist and mean: Poached Asian Chicken 
with Ginger Spring Onion Dip, soy sauce & oyster sauce

  

Don't be put off by the simplicity of this recipe; chicken cooked by poaching is silken and velvety, succulent and tender, bringing out the 'chickeness' of chicken.  It is  so moist and delectable, people will wonder whether it's a special breed of chicken. 

The tender, yielding flesh provides a pillowy vehicle for a trio of bold sauces: piquant ginger and scallion, oyster or hoisin sauce and reduced salt soy sauce.   

Every family in Asia has a version of this dish; it's health-giving and easy to digest.  Prepared several hours in advance, it's ideal for buffets; it also provides an excellent cold or/room-temperature alternative to blazing hot meats just off the barbecue. 

This chicken is also a wonderful low-cal/cholesterol de-tox food, more like a  delicacy than boring old rubber chicken.  And you end up with a glorious broth for freezing.  

The chicken takes only minutes to prepare.  And, in a fuel-conscious world, cooking time last only twenty minutes; the residual heat of the stock does the rest.  Don't go over the resting time or hold back on the ice; the chicken can dry out otherwise.

Buy the best chicken you can, free-range at least.  A half chicken is better than pieces; a whole chicken is best.  This is not a frugal dish but it is a memorable one.

Cost: up to £10, depending on the chicken
Serves: about 6-8 with sides

Ingred:

   1 whole chicken 1-1 1/2 k/ 2 1/2-3 lbs, skinned

   6 slices ginger 1/4 in/1/2 cm thick
   6 spring onions, floppy leaves removed and bottoms trimmed, cut in three
   6 whole peppercorns or 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
   a splash of dry sherry/white wine/white grape juice (opt)

    English Bibbs (soft) lettuce

Ginger & green onion Sauce
  3 tsp grated ginger
  6 tbsp finely chopped white spring onions
  3 tbsp groundnut/peanut oil
  1 generous tsp grated garlic (opt)
   

Method:
(You'll need a pot large enough to cover the chicken with liquid; a vertical stock pot is ideal but any large stock pot will do.) 

1. Place chicken in stock pot; cover with water
   
2. Bring to the boil; skim off froth; reduce heat to low; the water should be bubbling slightly
3. Add green onions, ginger, pepper & sherry, if using 
4. Cover with lid; simmer 20 min
5. Turn off heat source
6. Remove pot from heat, set aside & rest 1 hour; the chicken will carry on cooking
7. Prepare a large bowl of iced water  
8. Remove chicken from broth and plunge into iced water; set aside
9. Strain broth through a sieve; discard vegetables & pepper.  Cool broth one hour then refrigerate overnight.  (Scrape off fat layer on top; use as broth within 3 days or freeze.)
10. Remove chicken from iced water; pat dry; discard cooling water 
11. Serve at room temperature on a large platter lined with English lettuce.
12. Carve flesh (see How to...Carve a Chicken).  Place leg meat underneath and breast meat on top in a pleasing mound. Serve with Ginger Scallion Sauce and Reduced Salt Soy Sauce and/or Oyster Sauce
13. Ginger & Scallion Sauce: Put ginger & spring onions in heatproof bowl; heat oil until very hot and pour over - the ginger and spring onions will sizzle.  Stir and decant into serving bowl 

Tips:

• If you don't have a large enough pot, use the largest lidded pot you have.  Cut chicken into sections: legs & breasts.  Proceed as above.
• Recommended brands for lower-salt soy sauce: Amoy & Pearl River Bridge

More chicken on NavBar: Recipes 1/Chicken

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.