Home recipes: chicken

Marinade for grilled/roast/BBQ chicken

• Premium dark soy sauce (generous amount to get a better colour)
• Ginger juice (from freshly grated ginger)
• Shaoxing rice wine
• Sesame oil
• Maggi seasoning
• A generous amount of salt

You get the best results by marinating the chicken (whole or pieces) overnight. I like to salt my chicken really well, which also helps to produce a crisp skin. Alternatively, you could put less salt in the marinade, and brush on more salt before cooking - that should give you a crisp skin without the flesh becoming too salty.


Steamed chicken 蒸鸡

• Chicken pieces, chopped small for faster cooking
• Salt
• Shaoxing rice wine
• Sesame oil
• Soy sauce (light and dark)
• Dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked, steamed and sliced thinly
• Black fungus 云耳, soaked and sliced
• Dried lily buds 金针, soaked, hard ends removed and knotted
• Preserved large-rooted mustard 大头菜, julienned and soaked
• Ginger, julienned
• Spring onions to garnish

Season chicken with salt, wine, sesame oil and light soy sauce. A little dark soy sauce can be added for colour. Marinate for at least 3 hours.

Mix chicken with other ingredients and arrange on a large plate. A thin layer will ensure faster cooking. Steam. Half a chicken will take at least 20 minutes to cook (stir after 10 minutes).

Garnish with spring onions.


Ho See Fatt Choy (sounds like 好事发财 in Canto, thus eaten for CNY)

• Chicken back, feet and fat
• Dried shiitake (keep the stems if they are Japanese - will be tender enough to eat when cooked)
• Ho see (dried oysters - bigger ones are better for braising)
• Light soya sauce and salt
• Water

Simmer chicken parts and fat, and mushrooms together with water and seasoning. The whole braising process will take about 3h. In the last hour, add oysters. Fatt choy can be added towards the end if you have it (add too early and it'll dissolve). Serve on top of veggie leaves (my grandma says lettuce but I guess cooked bakchoy will do too). If you want more chicken to eat, you can use chicken wings too.


Braised sea cucumber

Dried spiny sea cucumbers are the best, if you can afford them. Soak them overnight, then boil till they are soft enough to cut open. Scrape away as much of the innards as you can, then boil for an hour or so and scrape again. If it's still not clean, you'll need to repeat the process from soaking overnight onwards, till they are clean - the sea cucumber is dirty lil bugger! As you do this you have to be careful not to overcook them till they disintegrate. Braise the result with chicken, chicken feet and dried shiitake.