Soya Sauce Chicken (酱油鸡)

The post for Little Thumbs Up October: Soya Beans is here. Please go to this link to submit your posting. Thank you!

Soya Sauce Chicken is a local favourite - we find it in many eateries in Singapore and its typically served with rice or egg noodles which makes an extremely satisfying lunch. During Chinese New Year, my mother in law would also typically buy soya sauce chicken for the reunion dinner. 

I've read that it isn't easy to braise a whole chicken in soya sauce, so this recipe with chicken legs is great for not so expert cooks like me. Besides I don't exactly relish the idea of chopping up a whole chicken so I'd much rather cook chicken parts where possible

It turned out to be really easy to make and I simply love how flavourful this chicken is after being stewed in the mixture of soya sauce, spices, herbs and rock sugar. The sauce was so good that we couldn't bear to throw it away so it was used for marinating and cooking tau pok and eggs the next day. 

Soy Sauce Chicken (3 servings)

Recipe from Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients:

•  3 chicken legs
• 2-inch ginger (skin peeled and lightly pounded)
• 4 cloves garlic (lightly pounded)
• 2 stalks scallions (cut into 2-inch lengths)
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick (about 2-inch length)
• 1 dried honey date
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine (preferred) or Shaoxing wine
• 3 dashes white pepper powder
• 4 oz. (113 g) rock sugar
• 4 cups water

Method

• Add all ingredients (except the chicken) into a deep pot and bring it to boil on high heat for 15 minutes. Add the chicken quarters into the pot and boil over high heat for about 10 minutes. 
• Lower the heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let the chicken steeped in the soy sauce mixture for a few hours to soak in the flavor. 
• Dish out the chicken quarters, chop into pieces and serve immediately (Soy sauce chicken is usually served cold or at room temperature.)

Note: The soya sauce mix is great for braising hard boiled eggs and tofu the next day, after all the chicken is gone!

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Mich of Piece of Cake at this post.