Soy Sauce Chicken

The fifth dish of our Top 8 Chinese New Year Dishes series is a classic Cantonese favourite that you can enjoy any day of the year too. Here is home cook Quek Seok Bin’s recipe for Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鸡 si yau kai)!

During CNY, a whole chicken dish symbolises unity and prosperity for the family. Hence, there are a plethora of interesting chicken recipes available such as salt-baked chicken, herbal emperor chicken, even poached chicken with abalones.

But if you want a quick and easy recipe that is also extremely delicious, this easy, one-pot Soy Sauce Chicken recipe is perfect for CNY as it can be prepared under an hour!

Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鸡 Si yau kai)
Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鸡 Si yau kai)

Soy Sauce Chicken

Some recipes call for the chicken to be marinated so to infuse more flavour into the meat. But with Kwong Cheong Thye’s Dark Soya Sauce Superior, you can skip the marinating time without compromising the flavour.

The dark soya sauce has a fragrant and thick texture that gives the braising sauce great flavour and a lovely reddish-brown colour. Top of the line and best used for braising dishes, the chicken still tastes as though it has been marinated overnight!

Hence, we highly recommend that you have this dish with some rice or noodles as you wouldn’t want to miss any drop of the delicious sauce too.

Kwong Cheong Thye’s Dark Soya Sauce Superior
Kwong Cheong Thye’s Dark Soya Sauce Superior

Kwong Cheong Thye’s Dark Soya Sauce Superior

Here are the ingredients that you need: whole chicken, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, water, garlic, ginger, dried rose buds/rose wine, rock sugar, spring onions, and cornstarch.

To begin, prepare the braising sauce for the chicken by adding all the ingredients, except the chicken and cornstarch, into a large pot and bring them to a boil.

Braising sauce for soy sauce chicken in pot
Braising sauce for soy sauce chicken in pot

Prepare and boil the braising sauce

Place the chicken into the pot once the sauce has boiled. Submerge the chicken by adding the remaining 4 cups of water. You may add more water if needed.

#Tip: if you added more water to submerge the chicken, remember to do a taste test and adjust the seasoning after simmering the chicken.

Putting chicken into braising sauce in pot
Putting chicken into braising sauce in pot

Carefully place the chicken into the pot

Adding water to braising sauce with whole chicken
Adding water to braising sauce with whole chicken

Add the last 4 cups of water or enough water to submerge the chicken

Bring the sauce to a boil again then cover the pot with a lid. Lower the heat and let the pot simmer for 20 minutes.

Boiling soy sauce chicken sauce in pot
Boiling soy sauce chicken sauce in pot

Bring the sauce to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes

Once 20 minutes are up, remove the chicken from the pot. You can test for the cook of the chicken with a meat thermometer or by cutting into the breast.

Let the chicken cool down a little, then cut it up into pieces and arrange them on a plate to serve.

Removing cooked braised soy sauce chicken from pot
Removing cooked braised soy sauce chicken from pot

Remove the chicken and cut it up

Next, make the sauce for the chicken.

Pour two ladleful of braising sauce onto a saucepan and pour in some cornstarch. Stir to mix well with a spatula until the sauce has thickened then remove the sauce from the heat.

Pouring sauce onto a frying pan
Pouring sauce onto a frying pan

Add two ladle full of sauce onto a frying pan

Stirring cornflour into sauce with spatula
Stirring cornflour into sauce with spatula

Add the cornflour and stir to mix well

Thickened sauce/gravy
Thickened sauce/gravy

Once sauce has thickened, remove from heat.

Lastly, serve the chicken and drizzle the sauce over the chicken.

#Tip: braise some tau gua and hard-boiled eggs in the remaining sauce as side dishes! You can also keep the sauce in the fridge overnight to cook more ingredients the next day. And it will taste better too!

Pouring sauce over soy sauce chicken
Pouring sauce over soy sauce chicken

Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and serve!

Get the recipe here!

Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鸡 si yau kai)

Servings5-6

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1kg whole chicken

  • 2 1/4cups light soya sauce

  • 1 1/3cups KCT Dark Soya Sauce Superior

  • 12cups water

  • 10cloves garlicskin on

  • 4slices ginger

  • 16dry rose buds

  • 3tbsp rock sugar

  • 3stalks spring onion

  • 2tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

  1. Add garlic, ginger, rose buds, rock sugar, spring onions, light and dark soya sauce, and 8 cups of water into a pot and bring it to a boil for 10 minutes.

  2. Gently place chicken into pot and add the remaining 4 cups of water or as needed to fully submerge the chicken in the sauce.

  3. Once the sauce boils again, cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. #Tip: if you added more water to submerge the chicken, remember to do a taste test and adjust the seasoning after simmering the chicken.

  4. Turn off the heat and remove the chicken from the pot. Let if cool off a little before chopping into pieces for serving. Set aside on a serving plate.

  5. Scoop 2 ladles of sauce into a small sauce pan and heat it up. Once the sauce boils, thicken the sauce with cornstarch to form a thick gravy. Remove gravy from heat and drizzle over chopped chicken.

  6. #Tip: use the remaining sauce to braise tau gua and hard boiled eggs for 15 minutes as additional sides. You can also keep the remaining sauce int the fridge to cook for the next day.

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