Poached chicken with spring onion oil (葱油雞) is a popular dish in Shanghai which is normally served at room temperature. Poaching is one of my favourite ways of cooking chicken as it produces the most tender and juicy meat. Once the chicken is cooked, it is plunged into an ice bath. This stops the cooking process and tightens the chicken skin, improving its mouth-feel.
Spring onion oil is made by simmering the spring onions in oil over low heat so that the oil is infused with its flavour. The fragrant oil is then used to make the sauce which is the perfect complement to the chicken.
The quality of the chicken is the key to the success of this dish. In Shanghai, a very popular breed of chicken which is used for this dish is san huang ji (三黄雞) which literally means “three-yellow chicken”. It is called as such because it has yellow beak, feather and feet. The chicken is known to have excellent flavour and tender meat. In the UK, there are a few breeds of chicken that I can recommend. Please see my previous post on roast chicken with butter, lemon and thyme. You do not really need to use a “posh” chicken, but always use a high quality, traditionally farmed chicken.
You can make this dish ahead of time. It may taste even better after a night in the fridge, giving it time to absorb all the flavours.
Ingredients
- 1.2-1.5kg whole organic or free range chicken
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- A few slices of ginger
- 2 spring onions, cut into sections
- Ice cubes
- 2 tsp sesame oil for brushing
For the sauce:
- 6 spring onions
- 2 tsp pureed ginger
- 75ml groundnut oil
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 100ml concentrated chicken stock (made from the poaching liquid)
Instructions
- Add Shaoxing wine, ginger and spring onions to a tall stockpot which will be large enough to accommodate the chicken. Fill the pot with water to about 3/4 full. Bring to the boil.
- Carefully lower the chicken into the water. Add or remove some water so that the chicken is just covered by the water. Bring to the boil. Lift the chicken out of the water, and drain the less hot water inside the cavity into the pot. Lower the chicken back into the pot. The cavity will now be filled with much hotter water ensuring that the chicken will be evenly cooked. Once the water boils again, turn off the heat. Cover the pot with a lid and leave the chicken to steep for 25 minutes.
- Turn on the heat again. Lift and drain the chicken one more time, following the procedure described above. Bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and let it stand for another 15 minutes. The chicken should be cooked at this stage. If you have a meat thermometer, insert it into the thickest part of the thigh but not touching the bone. The internal temperature of the meat should reach about 75°C.
- Lift the chicken out of the pot and drain the water from the cavity. Plunge into a bath of water with plenty of ice cubes. Leave it to cool for 15 minutes.
- Reserve about one litre of the poaching liquid. Skim the fat and strain into a saucepan using a fine-mesh sieve. Boil and reduce the volume until you have about 100ml of the liquid.
- Make sure the chicken is completely cooled. Drain and pat dry. Chop the chicken in Chinese style and arrange the pieces attractively on a plate. Brush the chicken skin with sesame oil for extra fragrance.
- For the sauce, cut the white parts of the spring onions into about 2.5cm segments. Chop the green parts into dices and set aside. Heat the oil in a small frying pan over low heat. Add the white parts of the spring onions. Cook for 10-15 minutes until they are slightly browned and fragrant. Remember to cook slowly to allow the oil to be infused with the flavour. Then add the Sichuan peppercorns and cook for 30 seconds.
- Toss the spring onion dices with the pureed ginger in a saucepan. Pour the spring onion oil through a fine-mesh sieve into the saucepan. Then add the concentrated chicken stock. Bring the mixture to the boil over high heat. Turn off the heat and let cool slightly. Season with salt to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.
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