THE HEALTHIEST MOST DELICIOUS CHINESE NEW YEAR CHICKEN

Astonishingly succulent, sweet, tender chicken with almost zero effort...and that Ginger Spring Onion Sauce is stunning!

  

first posted Jan 2016; updated 2023

Clean, lean, moist and mean: low-energy 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.  The meat is  so moist and delectable, people will wonder whether it's a special breed of chicken. 

While special breeds/organic are great for a very special occasion, not  many of us will indulge as food prices continue to skyrocket.

M&S higher welfare chickens (£5-10 5/23), however, come out extremely well using this cooking method.  (though removing the skin before poaching is better for your health)   

A whole chicken is best but a half chicken or if the budget is really tight, pieces will be fine.  (See Poached Chicken for Singletons)  

Poaching chickens make the flesh truly memorable.

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

Every Asian family has a version of this dish; it's health-giving and easy to digest.  Prepared in advance, it's ideal for crowds and  provides plenty of leftovers.

The chicken is also a low-cal/cholesterol de-tox food that tastes like a delicacy.  And you end up with a glorious broth for freezing.  

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


Cost: depends on the chicken (£5-£10, depending on size 5/23)
Serves: a crowd, or 6-8 with sides

Ingred:

   1 whole chicken 1-1.5 k/2-2.5 lbs

   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; remove skin; 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 

Comments:

'Ideal in a heatwave; hardly any cooking & little effort to prep. Makes really succulent meat.  I LOVED the Ginger Scallion Sauce; make lots of it!'

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. 

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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.