Home / All Recipes / Chinese / Poached Chicken and Ginger Scallion Sauce
Poached Chicken and Ginger Scallion Sauce
This classic Cantonese dish only requires 6 ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. Replace drumsticks with a whole chicken for special occasions.
I grow up in a Cantonese family. Poached chicken and ginger scallion sauce is a dish that often appears on my family dining table.
The poached chicken in itself is arguably one of the blandest dishes there is. But poaching makes the meat very tender, and the immediate ice bath firms up the chicken and makes the skin crispy.
The ginger scallion sauce, on the other hand, has a strong flavor. The two complements each other, and they work beautifully together.
Arguably, you don’t need anything else to serve with the chicken other than the ginger scallion sauce. But for those who love a spicy kick, I highly suggest making a batch of garlic ginger chili sauce to serve with the poached chicken.
Ingredients for poached chicken
You can use any cut for the poached chicken, but my favorite choice is to use drumsticks. Traditionally, and especially for festive occasions, most prepare this dish with a whole chicken.
TIPS: If using a whole chicken, you will need to carve the chicken into bite-size pieces before serving. Make sure to choose a pot that can accommodate a whole chicken, and add enough water to cover the chicken during poaching.
Please avoid using boneless skinless chicken meat. Both the skin and the bone improves the flavor of the dish immensely.
Aside from chicken, we also need ginger, scallion, and salt for the poached chicken.
Ingredients for ginger scallion sauce
We need only four ingredients for the sauce: ginger, scallion, salt, and oil.
Although you can use any neutral flavored oil, I highly recommend using peanut oil for this. In a pinch, you can use canola oil or even vegetable oil.
I don’t recommend using olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil. The smoking point for extra virgin olive oil is lower than peanut oil, and it will make the sauce taste more raw compared to using peanut oil. Also, extra virgin olive oil has a distinct flavor that is very different than peanut oil.
How to cook Chinese poached chicken
Boil 4 cups of water with ginger and scallion in a pot. Lower chicken into the boiling pot and let it return to a boiling point. Reduce the heat to a bare simmer, cover the pot and continue simmering for 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit in the pot for an additional 15 minutes without opening the lid.
Remove chicken from the pot and place in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process, firm up the meat, and make the chicken skin crispy.
Shred chicken into small pieces, toss with sesame oil, and arrange on a serving plate.
Serve the poached chicken with room temperature ginger and scallion sauce. You can also serve the chicken with garlic ginger chili sauce for some spicy kick.
How to prepare Chinese ginger scallion sauce
Mince ginger and scallions. Transfer ginger, scallion, and salt to a heat-proof bowl and mix. When you give this a quick taste, it should taste salty and not merely the taste of the right amount of salt.
Heat oil in a small pot until it starts to smoke. Pour hot oil over the ginger and scallions. Stir, then let the sauce cool to room temperature.
You can store the sauce in a clean glass jar in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Poached Chicken and Ginger Scallion Sauce
Ingredients
- 750 gram (~ 26 oz) chicken drumsticks
- 4 cups water
- 1 inch ginger, thinly sliced
- 1 scallion, chopped or knotted
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
- Ginger scallion sauce
- 40 gram (1.4 oz) ginger, minced
- 80 gram (2.8 oz) scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/2 cup peanut oil
Instructions
- Poached chicken: Boil 4 cups of water with ginger and scallion in a pot. Lower chicken into the boiling pot and let it return to a boiling point. Reduce the heat to a bare simmer, cover the pot and continue simmering for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit in the pot for an additional 15 minutes without opening the lid.
- Remove chicken from the pot and place in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process, firm up the meat, and make the chicken skin crispy.
- Shred chicken into small pieces, toss with sesame oil, and arrange on a serving plate.
- Ginger scallion sauce: Place ginger, scallion, and salt in a heat-proof bowl and mix. When you give this a quick taste, it should taste salty and not merely the taste of the right amount of salt.
- Heat oil in a small pot until it starts to smoke. Pour hot oil over the ginger and scallions. Stir, then let the sauce cool to room temperature.
- Serve: Serve the poached chicken with room temperature ginger and scallion sauce.
Comments
This looks great! Love the ginger scallion sauce. Will definitely be making this over the weekend.
So simple yet so delicious! We all loved the sauce! Great recipe, thanks!
This chicken dish is so simple yet flavorful. Indeed a delicious recipe. Loving that sauce..
That scallion sauce is just perfect for the chicken. I love how easy this recipe is, too.
I would love to make this for dinner. So delicious. Thanks for sharing.
That sauce looks amazing! This will be perfect for leftover chicken too.
This chicken looks so good, can't wait to try it out.
The scallion sauce was such a discovery! I am using it in many more dishes. Thank you!
This chicken looks so juicy and perfectly cooked! I love the flavor of the scallion sauce with this!
I recently started poaching my chicken and this was the first time I poached drumsticks... so so good! And the scallion and ginger sauce was a huge hit! Loved everything about this!
I love how quickly this dish comes together!
This received rave reviews from my family! Thank you for another fabulous recipe. :)
Leave a comment