I first blogged about soy sauce chicken back in October, 2007, when my mother showed me her simple but fool-proof method for this Cantonese home-style dish. Really, who can resist juicy chicken wings braised in a bath of soy sauce, garlic, cinnamon, and star anise? (Probably only vegetarians and the alliumphobic.) I recently updated this recipe with revised instructions and new photos. Hope you enjoy revisiting soy sauce chicken as much as I did!
The Cantonese often go ga-ga over Hainanese chicken, a dish prepared by boiling a whole chicken in pork and chicken stock. It originated on the island of Hainan, became a national dish of Singapore, and is enjoyed anywhere on the globe where the Cantonese dine.
Chicken without sauce allows you to taste the freshness of the skin and meat, much like eating shrimp with nothing but a spritz of lemon. But no offense to Hainanese chicken – sometimes your tastebuds just cry out for something savory that just melts off the bone.
Soy-braised chicken is a simple casserole dish can be whipped up within 30 or 40 minutes. A Dutch oven or earthenware casserole dish is ideal, but a medium sized pot also works. (My mother believes that moist-cooking methods with a lot of soy sauce is bad for metals. I haven’t had too much problem aside from marks on my stainless steel cookware that can be easily scrubbed off with steel wool, but maybe some food scientists out there can explain the cause?)
And just a note – you’ll definitely want to prepare a side of rice or plain noodles in broth head of time, to soak up all the extra sauce.
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Chinese Soy Sauce Chicken
Serves 4 to 6
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 3 cups water (more if needed to cover the chicken at least 3/4 of the way)
- 2 to 2 1/2 pounds chicken wings, drummettes and wings separated
- 1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 pieces star anise
- 1 scallion, shredded or chopped
- In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the chicken, soy sauce, and water over medium flame. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Make sure heat is as low as can be without turning off; simmering soy sauce can easily become rapidly boiling soy sauce, which can easily become a big mess to clean up.
- Add the ginger, garlic, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, and sugar. Allow the chicken to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or up an hour if you want falling-of-the-bone tenderness. Ladle the chicken and sauce into a deep platter. Garnish with scallions and prepare to enjoy some savory, succulent chicken.
I am not sure about what the soy sauce does to metal, but I recently prepared a soy sauce chicken recipe that called to allowing the chicken to steep in the pot for three hours. The cast iron pot that I used had a “different” look that was apparent after I rinsed out the pot. Good…Bad..not sure. Great site…you are really helping me explore some new things and impress my Chinese fiancee. :)
I made this for lunch today and it was incredibly succulent and spiced just right. Served it with stirfried spinach and white rice, yum yum!
I substituted sugar with honey which gave more flavor to this excellent dish.
i think you site is awesome, i have made a few now and all has turned out great.
Thanks for a fab website
This is another great recipe, i would love to try it out next week and will let you know how it cooked.
Just tried this recipes last night, though I increased the portion size of the recipe since I had some friends over. We all thought it was great!
I love this dish, especially how the meat just falls off the bone and the flavor gets all the way through to the bone.
The only thing I can think of is that the salt in the soy sauce would corrode a metal pot. I don’t know if it’s concentrated enough to do that diluted that much in water, though.
Wow, this is the first I’ve ever heard of alliumphobia. I wonder what the opposite of that is because that’s what I am! :)
This recipe looks lovely! I can’t wait to make it!
Jenn: Alliumphilia would be the opposite. I know, because I also “suffer” from it.
This looks absolutely delicious. I never realized it was so simple to make, I really have to try this soon. It should work in a Le Creuset pot because of the enamel covering, right?
Nuts about food – Yes, an enamel cast iron pot works great. I’ve used my Staub for this and chicken adobo, which also has a fair amount of soy sauce, and the chicken comes out great every time! Clean-up is a breeze too. :)
What kind of soy sauce did you use – light, medium or dark/mushroom? Thanks
Mary Ann – I use regular soy sauce, which is (confusingly) often referred to in Chinese cooking as light soy sauce. It’s confusing because if you actually see the words “light soy sauce” on the bottles at grocery stores, it usually means low sodium. Basically, you can use any soy sauce that does not stipulate light or dark on the label. Hope that helps!
I’d love to try this, but I’m curious about whether soy sauce would damage my All Clad pot. I’m not even remotely a scientist, my guess is that if soy sauce is particularly acidic that it might damage the pot?
Looks healthy and delicious! Mouth-watering photos too! I am cooking this at home and I am using ground pepper and some salt and lemon juice or pineapple chunks to add flavor and taste. Anyway, thanks for the recipe.
Diana: sounds very tantatilizing. I love the star anise addition. It is so wonderful that you are adding the origin of the dish.
Thanks for this recipe! I made this today and tastes real good. I added some green onions, few more garlic cloves and used rock candy in lieu of sugar.
Do you reuse your base sauce? I remember my dad would keep reusing it and the flavor keeps building.
That was delicious! Just as I remembered eating this as a child. I didn’t have a cinnamon stick so I added a bit of rice wine and it still turned out great. I bet it would be as delicious with pork belly. Thanks!
I just made this again today, and I’ve probably made this recipe many many times since you’ve first posted it. I love how simple and delicious it is.
As a college kid living on my own not quite having this whole ‘cook healthy for yourself’ thing figured out, soy sauce chicken is like a godsend.
Cici – It’s the perfect one-pot meal! Glad you’re enjoying it!
I made this a couple of nights ago and it was amazing! I never thought I’d be able to make something as delicious as soy sauce chicken on my own (tasted too marvelous to be this simple) but I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks for a wonderful recipe and for clearing up the mystery ;)
I made this a few weeks ago. It was nice to get a break from Italian food (I’m in Italy). This dish is so quick to make and is so freaking delicious!!! I ate it with spinach and brown rice. I’m making it the same way tonight. It smells so good!
My mom used to make these when I was a kid – she probably had no idea that she was cooking anything with such”exotic” origins, I think she got the recipe from her mom when she got married along with the tuna casserole and beef stroganoff which both made a weekly appearance (my ancestry is French Canadian/very rural). I’ve been dreaming of them ever since she became a vegetarian when I was 14… Making them tonight and surprised I have both a cinnamon stick and star anise on hand! :) Thanks for sharing!
Danielle – That’s so great to hear! Let me know how it turns out! Now I’m craving some of this aromatic braised chicken too. :)