Ginger chicken is an easy Chinese recipe you can try at home.From time to time we all need a good, warming chicken dish served on a pile of hot rice. The chicken is glossy and tender, the rice is steaming and fluffy. To me the combination is like a song – singing that life is so good right now that you don’t need anything more from the world – that is until you finish this meal.This was our first ever guest recipe, so a special thank you to @colorcrash for allowing us to post it.
Ingredients
- 400 g chicken
- 2 cups rice
- 2 spring (green) onions (finely sliced)
- fresh ginger (sliced)
- soy sauce
- rice wine (or sherry)
- (asian dark) sesame oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 large chilli (finely chopped; optional)
Instructions
- Grab your knife and cut the chicken into 4cm/2in chunks so they shrink can shrink into nice bitesize pieces. Trim off any chicken fat and put it to one side as it can be used later.
- Slice the fresh ginger root, I keep my fresh ginger in a jar of rice wine so it keeps well in the fridge. The wine will also soften the tough ginger fiber and produce a ginger flavoured rice wine which can be reused to marinade meat.
- Heat your pan and add a little oil – I am using canola oil – careful not to add too much since we will add the chicken fat and sesame oil later.
- Add ginger and chicken fat (optional) in the pan.
- Under a medium heat, cook the ginger until it becomes dry, and starts to curl at the edge. The chicken fat will melt away and be absorbed into the ginger, which will make it crispy.
- Add your chicken to the pan, and let one side sear and brown before turning.
- After the chicken is cooked and seared, add 1 tbsp of sesame oil. This will transform the smell and character of this chicken dish into a more exotic “Taiwanese” style dish.
- If serving with rice, it would be best to start cooking that now.
- Add 1tbsp of rice wine or sherry to the pan and take a good sniff (Optional!). You can use more of the rice wine if you feel necessary, but not too much as then it becomes a very different Taiwanese dish!
- Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of of soy sauce. You can add more or less to your own taste, it just depends on how salty the soy sauce is. Soy sauce is like beer/wine/olive oil – its taste can vary quite widely, so just use good judgement.
- When the soy sauce has coated the chicken and caramelised add 1 tbsp. sugar to give it a glossy coating and add some sweetness.
- Add the finely sliced (spring) green onions, and if brave enough add the chopped chilli pepper to give the dish some kick and heat it all through – just remember to warn whoever is going to eat this it might be hot!
- Remove from the heat and serve with rice or couscous.
