Soy Sauce Chicken Recipes

I have trouble of thinking about what to make for dinner. ALL THE TIME. I am a working mom now with a full time job and thinking about what to make on the daily can be EXHAUSTING. But when I find a gem that can be made quickly and is delicious, I have to share it with you guys right away because we all need those recipes that are fast, easy, and most importantly, satisfying. That recipe is none other than this soy sauce chicken recipes.  Yup, that’s right! The beautifully brown dripping soy sauce chicken you see hanging in the Chinese delis in Chinatown.When I think of comfort food, I think of this: a to-go box with soy sauce chicken, cha shiu, and a couple pieces of choy sum, mmmmm delicious! Soy sauce chicken is chicken stewed in soy sauce and spices, resulting in the most tender, JUICY, and flavorful chicken. This dish is super simple and easy to make! If you’re ever in a pinch for what to make for dinner, this is the recipe for you!

The Chicken

When this chicken is made right, boy is it delicious. The most satisfying soy sauce chicken is not only in the aroma filled soy sauce, it’s the tenderness of the juicy chicken. Kind of like Thanksgiving turkey, when chicken is dry, especially the breast, it’s hard to eat. If you cook this recipe right, you will find that tender and juicy chicken that tastes EVEN better than getting it from the Chinese deli. Your kids will ask for more, I promise! For chopping a whole chicken tutorial, check out my “how to chop a chicken chinese style post.”

It’s all about the sauce

The marinade has to have the right balance of soy sauce, cooking wine, and spices.  Trust me when I say, you will be making this over and over again when you get it right! Once you have the sauce, it seeps into the chicken and the combination of savory soy sauce and juicy chicken is a dynamic combo that hits the spot every time. I am so excited to share this one with you, if you made this recipe, please share it with me, I would love to see it!

Where to Buy Seasonings?

       The dark soy sauce, rock sugar, dried orange peel, and rose water can be purchased at any Chinese supermarket such as 99 ranch, Marina, etc. If you can’t find the dried orange peel, you can dry a tangerine peel yourself to get the nice citrus aroma. 

Check out my “What’s in my pantry post” to see each of the seasonings that are worth keeping in your cabinet!

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (1 pack chicken drumsticks)
• 6 slices of ginger
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 2 tbsp Xiao hing cooking wine
• 3 tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 1/2 cup Light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp Rock sugar
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1/4 cup of water
• Optional- 1 dried orange peel
• Optional- 1 tbsp of rose water

Instructions

1. Rinse chicken in cold water. Use a cleaver and chop chicken feet and chicken head down to neck. 
2. Prepare and slice ginger and smash garlic. In a large pot, combine dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, xiao hing cooking wine, and water and bring to a boil in medium heat. 
3. Once the seasonings boil, add in bay leaf, rock sugar, and orange peel to the pot and turn down heat to low. Lay chicken flat side down and cook chicken for 5-7 minutes on each side depending on the size of chicken. 
4. Cook top and bottom side for 3 minutes each. Chicken will be cooked in 16-18 minutes. 
5. For chicken drumsticks, evenly rotate drumsticks and cook for a total of 10 minutes. 
6. Once chicken is cooked, lay out and wait until chicken is cooled before chopping. Reference my “How to Chop a Chicken” tutorial on how to chop chicken into 1-inch increments. 
7. Once chicken is chopped, drizzle sauce over chicken to immerse sauce into chicken and serve. 

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