Aug 27: See You Guy???

See You Guy!

I'm not saying farewell, but saying in phonetic Cantonese, "Soy Sauce Chicken" where "See You" is Soy Sauce and "Guy" is Chicken.

Soy sauce chicken is typically seen in Chinese barbecue houses hanging in the window next to the whole roasted pork, barbecue pork and Peking Duck. A very common sight in San Francisco or Seattle.

I've had a craving for soy sauce chicken and knowing I have three bottles of soy sauce in the pantry, this is a good way to start using the surplus and appease my craving. :-)

The bottle on the right is not naturally foamy. I dropped the bottle before setting up the photo... lol.


The recipe is improvised with the ingredients on hand.
SOY SAUCE CHICKEN

The Fixins'
1 Green Onion
1 Star Anise
2 Cloves Garlic
25 g Rock Sugar
5 g ginger
3.5 oz from each of the soy sauces (11.5 oz total)
1.5 oz Shao Hsing rice wine
3 oz of water (add water to the soy sauce and rice wine to make 2 cups of liquid)
Chicken (wing, drumstick and thighs) - Traditionally, the chicken is cooked whole, but for speed the chicken was cut apart.

The seasoning - green onion, star anise, garlic, rock sugar and garlic.


Combine seasoning and the liquids (soy sauce, rice wine and water).
Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
After which, the chicken pieces are added.

Adding the chicken to the soy sauce broth. Immerse as much as possible.


Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer.
Cook for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes rotate the pieces and simmer another 15.

The completed chicken. Nice rich dark caramel color!


The soy sauce chicken was served in a rice bowl.


Overall, the soy sauce chicken turned out really well.
I was afraid the soy sauce would oversalt the chicken, but the flavor was very similar to the chicken purchased at the Chinese bbq places I remember growing up.

The chicken was well seasoned, slightly sweet and just a hint of licorice from the star anise.
Star anise is similar to nutmeg or cinnamon where the spice has an inherent sweetness. In fact, star anise is probably the "secret" ingredient to this dish.

What I would change?
Cut back on the soy sauce. Mainly so it's easier to remember.
I would use a 1 cup of soy to 1 cup of water ratio. I don't know if the rice wine really adds anything to the mix.

A little more sugar... about 2 teaspoons.
I used 25 grams which is equivalent to 2 tablespoons of white sugar or 1.67 tablespoons (5 teaspoons) of packed dark brown sugar.

Add a little more star anise... probably 1.5.

Additions... some 5 spice powder to add more flavor and sweetness. A little will go a long way so probably 1/2 teaspoon.

Just a few ideas for the next time. :-)

See you guys! (as in "Bye for now! Happy eating!")