Chicken with green onion and ginger.

[annachan]

I'm thinking of making green onion and ginger chicken like the ones at restaurants. It's a whole chicken cut up and tops with green onion and ginger and I think hot oil.

The main question I have is how to cook the chicken. Is it steamed? Or is it boiled?

I vaguely remembered from I don't know where that you can put the chicken in a pot, cover with water, let it come to a boil, put lid on, turn stove off and let the chicken sit for 2 or so hours and the chicken would be perfectly cooked. Anyone ever heard of something like that? Would that work for what I want to make?

Any help is appreciated!

[Dejah]

I'm thinking of making green onion and ginger chicken like the ones at restaurants. It's a whole chicken cut up and tops with green onion and ginger and I think hot oil.

The main question I have is how to cook the chicken. Is it steamed? Or is it boiled?

I vaguely remembered from I don't know where that you can put the chicken in a pot, cover with water, let it come to a boil, put lid on, turn stove off and let the chicken sit for 2 or so hours and the chicken would be perfectly cooked. Anyone ever heard of something like that? Would that work for what I want to make?

Any help is appreciated!

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Anna:

You can make the chicken as you described in "boiling". The amount of "sitting time" depends on the size of the chicken. For a 3 pound one, probably an hour or so. I would add a stalk of green onion and some slices of fresh ginger to the water.

You can also steam it by placing the chicken in a dish then steaming.

It might be easier to do the "boil" method as you wouldn't have to monitor the water level in steaming.

Just make sure you season the chicken well ahead of cooking time.

[kayswv]

Anna,

I have done this for several years and it yields a very moist chicken which can be deboned in very little time:

Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Then add the whole cleaned chicken. When the water stops boiling, take the chicken out. Cover the pot, and when the water again boils, place chicken back into the pot. Cover the pot and turn off the heat.

Leave the chicken in the pot and the pot on the burner. After an hour the chicken is done.

If chicken is larger than 3 pounds, it might take a little longer then an hour.

Really is a great way and the bird retains its flavor.

Kay

[annachan]

Just make sure you season the chicken well ahead of cooking time.

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Thanks Dejah!

Season the chicken - with just salt? With soy sauce? Wine? Would seasoning the chicken the night before be enough time?

[annachan]

Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Then add the whole cleaned chicken. When the water stops boiling, take the chicken out. Cover the pot, and when the water again boils, place chicken back into the pot.

Kay

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Kay - thanks!

I need some clarification: So, when I added the chicken for the first time, wouldn't the water stop boiling almost immediately? Am I supposed to only leave the chicken in there for a very short time, for a minute or so?

[Dejah]

Just make sure you season the chicken well ahead of cooking time.

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Thanks Dejah!

Season the chicken - with just salt? With soy sauce? Wine? Would seasoning the chicken the night before be enough time?

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I would just season with salt, and a little MSG (optional)

Kay: I've never used the first step you mentioned. What is the purpose of that? Would it be to "shrink the skin" so it doesn't burst with boiling? Would there still be enough heat in the water to cook the chicken when you put it back in the second time?

[kayswv]

I need some clarification: So, when I added the chicken for the first time, wouldn't the water stop boiling almost immediately? Am I supposed to only leave the chicken in there for a very short time, for a minute or so?

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[hzrt8w]

I remember watching an episode of Kylie Kwong's "Simply Magic" series, in which she cooked a 3-4 lb chicken as (if I remember it correctly, and I like this recipe):

Boil a pot of water, just enough to cover the chicken. Add salt (1/8 of a cup, maybe?), a few whole green onions, some ginger slices, and some star anises. Add the whole chicken. Continue to cook for exactly 13 minutes (maybe adjust from experience and the size of the chicken). Turn off the heat and let the chicken continue to cook in the residual heat of the water for an hour or so (???).

If to marinate the chicken... perhaps to rub the cavity with some salt and crushed star anises?

[Chris Amirault]

Barbara Tropp has a similar method: chicken, water, aromatics, bring to the boil, cover tightly and turn off the heat.

[sheetz]

If you have one, just stick a digital probe thermometer in the chicken while it's poaching and cook until around 160F.

[annachan]

If you have one, just stick a digital probe thermometer in the chicken while it's poaching and cook until around 160F.

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Great idea! I do have a probe thermometer. I stick that in the tight or breast?

[sheetz]

If you have one, just stick a digital probe thermometer in the chicken while it's poaching and cook until around 160F.

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Great idea! I do have a probe thermometer. I stick that in the tight or breast?

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I just choose wherever it's thickest. It shouldn't really matter if the pot is large enough and you have enough water.

[Ben Hong]

I have never detected the flavour of star anise in baak jam gai.

Nor do I ever use it.

Edited January 6, 2008 by Ben Hong (log)

[rarerollingobject]

Kylie Kwong (whom I in every aspect find intensely annoying, is my disclaimer, though her restaurant is down the street from me and it does do some tasty grub) gives her poaching recipe here.

[Sarah!]

My method is almost like Kay's and it is also the only method I use too. It yields a perfect, moist and juicy chicken everytime and will never overcook.

I add ginger slices and a clove of smashed garlic into the water and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and submerge fully in the water, cover immediately. After 30 minutes, remove the chicken and bring the water back to a boil. Submerge chicken again and cover for another 30 minutes. Remove and plunge into ice cold water to stop the cooking. Allow to sit in the cold water for 15 minutes. Rub a little sesame oil on the skin and chop into smaller pieces.

[Chris Amirault]

If you have one, just stick a digital probe thermometer in the chicken while it's poaching and cook until around 160F.

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Great idea! I do have a probe thermometer. I stick that in the tight or breast?

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I just choose wherever it's thickest. It shouldn't really matter if the pot is large enough and you have enough water.

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Thighs generally take longer, though, so they're a better part to poke.

[sheetz]

Thighs generally take longer, though, so they're a better part to poke.

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I do this when chicken roasting in the oven, but in this style of cooking I'm not convinced it really matters since the whole bird gets cooked through pretty uniformly in the end.

[annachan]

Reporting back:

I started out with a 4 lb chicken. Add ginger and green onion to the water and bring it to boil. Added chicken and cooked for 15 minutes. Put lid on, turn off the flame and let it sit for 1.5 hours.

The chicken didn't get cooked through, only up to 160 degrees and still pink in some parts. I originally was going to leave the thermometer in there but realized that I wouldn't have been able to close the lid tight.

I ended up bringing the liquid up to a boil again and then covered up the chicken for another hour or so and it was done.

So, I think what I started with wold work for a smaller chicken. If I use a 4 lb chicken again, I'll probably cook it a little longer, maybe for 20 minutes, and then let it sit for 2 to 2.5 hours.

[jo-mel]

I remember watching an episode of Kylie Kwong's "Simply Magic" series, in which she cooked a 3-4 lb chicken as (if I remember it correctly, and I like this recipe):

Boil a pot of water, just enough to cover the chicken.  Add salt (1/8 of a cup, maybe?), a few whole green onions, some ginger slices, and some star anises.  Add the whole chicken.  Continue to cook for exactly 13 minutes (maybe adjust from experience and the size of the chicken).  Turn off the heat and let the chicken continue to cook in the residual heat of the water for an hour or so (???).

If to marinate the chicken... perhaps to rub the cavity with some salt and crushed star anises?

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Xiao hzrt ----

I do something similar.

But timing directions sometimes confuse me --- as in adding the chicken to the boiling water and the timing. Do you start counting as soon as the chicken hits the water, or do you bring the water back to a boil and then start the 13 minutes?

I often do the 'sitting in the water' thing before I grill chicken, no matter what the recipe calls for - Chinese or not. That bath gives a nice piece of juicy chicken that then is browned and seasoned on the grill.

[hzrt8w]

I just read another recipe that goes like this:

- 10 cups of water

- 4 lb chicken

- some green onions, salt, sugar

Boil the mixture over high heat. Place chicken in pot breast side up. Bring the water to a boil. Then lower heat, simmer for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken over in pot, cover pot again and simmer for another 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Allow chicken to rest in the pot with cover on for 30 minutes.

[Dejah]

I cooked a 3.5 lb chicken last week sometime...

In the morning, the chicken was seasoned inside and out with salt. In the afternoon, I brought a pot of water to boil with slices of ginger, stalks of scallions, and a few star anise. The chicken came straight out of the fridge into the boiling water. I took the chicken out when the bubbles stopped. (Kay's double dip method). Once the water came to a boil again, I put the chicken back in.

When the water came to a boil again, I left it bubbling for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to simmer - with the lid on the pot.

When we ate at 5 pm, (1.5 hours in covered pot) the breasts were perfect, but the thighs were still pink. I took the thighs off, put them back into the broth with the heat on high. By the time I cut up the rest of the chicken and the vegetables cooked, the thighs were ready. The whole chicken was silky, tender, and juicy.

I followed Ah Leung's pictorial for the ginger/oil dip with the spice mix.

I'll be making this more often!

[cakewalk]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, however I can't help but note: I'm reading this entire thread with a bit of incredulity for one reason: boiled chicken. My mother (and just about every Jewish mother in the world) used to serve boiled chicken on Friday nights. (It's how we got the chicken soup.) But the chicken -- even though it was boiled with S&P (or at least just salt) and celery, carrots, parsnips, parsley, etc. -- was still tasteless, rubbery, and in general not very appetizing, mostly because it was boiled. (But the soup was good.)

And now I'm reading about boiled chicken, and it gets adjectives like "silky, tender, and juicy" or "perfect, moist, and juicy" (that's two individual "juicies!") So tell me please, what's happening here? The spices are different, but the method (boiling) is pretty much the same. The only major differences I can think of are (1) you're boiling the chicken whole, whereas my mother would cut the chicken into pieces; and (2) you seem to be letting the chicken sit in boiled water for quite a while, rather than letting the water continue to boil. Could this make such a difference? Can someone explain why?

Thanks.

[annachan]

Cakewalk - boiling the chicken whole instead of in pieces would definitely make a difference. Also, letting the chicken sit in hot liquid instead of in constant boiling water probably makes a difference as well. That's the way I get good hard boiled eggs as well, by letting it sit in the hot water with stove turned off instead of it continuously boiling water.

Sorry, can't offer any scientific reason.

[sheetz]

Yes, it's the difference between 'boiling' and 'poaching.' You're cooking at two different temperatures. Recall that properly cooked chicken is normally done in the 160-170F range, but boiling water is at 212F (at sea level). If you boil the chicken you will be cooking the meat way past done, and you will be left something that is dry and flavorless.

[cakewalk]

Thanks. I have to try this.

Another question (I can't help it): could you get any sort of soup out of this?