A simple dinner: poached chicken in ginger-scallion sauce, bok choy, rice
This is amazingly easy to do and is quite delicious. It's also relatively low fat, at least relative to what I usually prepare.
Fill a big pot with enough water to submerge a chicken. Add a splash of soy sauce, a splash of Shaoxing cooking sherry, some ginger slices, and a couple of smashed cloves of garlic. Cover and bring to a boil.
Rinse a whole chicken. When the water is boiling, uncover the pot and put the chicken in the boiling water, breast side down. Return liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Skim scum as it rises to the top (one skim at about 10 minutes' cooking time does the trick). You are now poaching a whole chicken. A 4 1/4 pound bird takes about 50-55 minutes to poach.
Trim some stalks of bok choy to bite size pieces. Set aside.
Grate a finger's length of ginger. Combine in a small bowl with a few tablespoons of soy sauce, a teaspoon of sugar, a half teaspoon of salt, three diced scallions, and a few tablespoons of water. Set aside.
Fill another large pot with cold water and ice. When the chicken is cooked, lift it out of the boiling water (a large plastic slotted serving spoon in the cavity does the trick; so too do those great big wok skimmers the Chinese use--see image at the bottom of this post) and submerge in the ice water. Let cool for 10-15 minutes, until cool enough to handle with bare hands.
Make a nice pot of jasmine rice. Set aside.
Drop the bok choy into the simmering poaching water. Cook until cooked through, no more than one minute. Extricate from liquid and plate. Splash with a little soy sauce.
Harvest the meat from the chicken, shredding by hand as you go. Discard the rubbery skin, it is bad for you and it is tasteless thanks to the poaching.
In a nonstick skillet, heat a tablespoon of sesame oil. When it's good and hot, add the ginger/scallion/etc. mix. Heat through; let the sauce come to a good boil and thicken just a little. Dress the chicken with the sauce. Make a plate of chicken, bok choy, and rice. Eat. Yum.
Fill a big pot with enough water to submerge a chicken. Add a splash of soy sauce, a splash of Shaoxing cooking sherry, some ginger slices, and a couple of smashed cloves of garlic. Cover and bring to a boil.
Rinse a whole chicken. When the water is boiling, uncover the pot and put the chicken in the boiling water, breast side down. Return liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Skim scum as it rises to the top (one skim at about 10 minutes' cooking time does the trick). You are now poaching a whole chicken. A 4 1/4 pound bird takes about 50-55 minutes to poach.
Trim some stalks of bok choy to bite size pieces. Set aside.
Grate a finger's length of ginger. Combine in a small bowl with a few tablespoons of soy sauce, a teaspoon of sugar, a half teaspoon of salt, three diced scallions, and a few tablespoons of water. Set aside.
Fill another large pot with cold water and ice. When the chicken is cooked, lift it out of the boiling water (a large plastic slotted serving spoon in the cavity does the trick; so too do those great big wok skimmers the Chinese use--see image at the bottom of this post) and submerge in the ice water. Let cool for 10-15 minutes, until cool enough to handle with bare hands.
Make a nice pot of jasmine rice. Set aside.
Drop the bok choy into the simmering poaching water. Cook until cooked through, no more than one minute. Extricate from liquid and plate. Splash with a little soy sauce.
Harvest the meat from the chicken, shredding by hand as you go. Discard the rubbery skin, it is bad for you and it is tasteless thanks to the poaching.
In a nonstick skillet, heat a tablespoon of sesame oil. When it's good and hot, add the ginger/scallion/etc. mix. Heat through; let the sauce come to a good boil and thicken just a little. Dress the chicken with the sauce. Make a plate of chicken, bok choy, and rice. Eat. Yum.
Labels: food
posted by Tom Meltzer @ 6:24 PM
2 Comments:
At 11:38 AM ,
Anonymous said...
Thanks for the recipe. Sounds delicious. But I have to say that reading "grate" and "finger" in the same sentence made me wince.
At 11:54 AM ,
Wendy said...
sounds terrific. I'm going to submit to our executive chef. :)
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home