Pictorial: Braised Chicken w/ Ginger, Green Onion

[hzrt8w]

Pictorial Recipe

Braised Chicken with Ginger and Green Onion (薑蔥炆雞)

If you like to make something quick, simple and tasty, I can recommend you to make this "Braised Chicken with Ginger and Green Onion" dish. It takes only about 30 minutes to cook with minimum amount of work.

Picture of the finished dish:

Serving Suggestion: 2-3

Preparations:

Main ingredients (upper right, clockwise):

- Boneless chicken breast, about 1 1/2 lb

- 10 to 12 stalks of green onions

- Garlic, use 5-6 cloves

- Ginger, use 3-inch in length

- 1 large onion

Note: I used boneless chicken breast for this dish. You may use bone-in chicken pieces (breasts with rib bones, chicken thighs, chicken legs, etc.) to make this dish - which will carry more flavor.

Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. If you use bone-in chicken, chop them into bite-size pieces.

To marinate the chicken: Put all chicken pieces in a mixing bowl. Add 1-2 tsp of sesame oil, 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine, 1-2 tsp of oyster sauce, 2 tsp of corn starch, 1-2 tsp of light soy sauce, 1 tsp of ground white pepper and 1/4 tsp of salt (or to taste).

Mix well in the mixing bowl. Set aside for 30 minutes before cooking.

Trim ends and cut the green onions and ginger into thin shreds.

Peel, trim and mince 5-6 cloves of garlic. Peel, trim and wedge the large onion.

Cooking Instructions:

Use a medium size pot. Set stove to high. Add 2-3 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil starts fuming.

Add minced garlic, half of the portion of shredded green onions, wedged onion, ginger shreds and 1/2 tsp of salt. Dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine. Mix well.

After 2 minutes of sauteing the garlic/ginger/green onion mixture, add the marinated diced chicken.

Add 2 tsp of oyster sauce, 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 2 tsp of sugar. Mix well. Reduce the stove to medium-low setting. Braise with lid on for 30 minutes or so.

This is how it looks after 30 minutes. Add some corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce a little bit. (e.g 1 tsp of corn starch in 2-3 tsp of water. Adjust.)

Before serving, add the remaining portion of the shredded green onions. Mix well. Transfer to the serving plate.

Picture of the finished dish.

(Note: The quantity of food made in this recipe is about twice the portion shown in this picture.)

[I_call_the_duck]

Wonderful, Ah Leung!

This looks like something I've been craving, but couldn't remember what it was. And a meal in under 30 minutes (I'll spare everyone the Rachel Ray jokes), too! Just the way I like it.

[hzrt8w]

This dish takes about 30 minutes to cook. And you need to spend some time for the preparation. But during the braising time you can attend other matters.

"Why a 30 minute meal takes longer than 30 minutes..."

Edited July 10, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[jo-mel]

Ahhh -- now I know what to do with the excess of scallions I have at the moment. Thanks!

[Jason Perlow]

That looks awesome. Gotta have plenty of white rice for a dish like that.

[eje]

Looks tasty, Ah Leung.

Will definitely go on the list of dishes to try.

Though, I bet it would be better with bone in thigh meat!

[Dejah]

May I suggest browning the meat before braising. That would make it "hern dee la" ( more fragrant/flavourful)

[hzrt8w]

Though, I bet it would be better with bone in thigh meat!

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Agreed.

Note to self: in next life find a spouse who would eat dark meat.

[hzrt8w]

May I suggest browning the meat before braising. That would make it "hern dee la" ( more fragrant/flavourful)

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Agreed with this for bone-in, skin-on dark meat. If browning boneless chicken breast first then braising, it will tend to overcook.

[jo-mel]

May I suggest browning the meat before braising. That would make it "hern dee la" ( more fragrant/flavourful)

←

Agreed with this for bone-in, skin-on dark meat. If browning boneless chicken breast first then braising, it will tend to overcook.

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Too hot to do this dish tonight! But when I do, I think I will use scored bone-in or out thighs. I DO like dark meat for long-braised dishes.

But the sauce is what I think I will especially like! As Jason said -- lots of rice is needed!

[eje]

RE: Use of White Onions

When I've been out for Chinese food in SF, I've always assumed that the use of white or red onions was an Americanization.

But, I see you use them for quite a few dishes.

Are they used in some regions more commonly than others?

[liuzhou]

RE: Use of White Onions

When I've been out for Chinese food in SF, I've always assumed that the use of white or red onions was an Americanization.

But, I see you use them for quite a few dishes.

Are they used in some regions more commonly than others?

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Yes. Here in Guangxi both are used (although red onions are more common than white). However, when I lived in Hunan a few years ago, it was difficult to find onions at all. Generally they seem to be more common in the south of China.

[hzrt8w]

When I've been out for Chinese food in SF, I've always assumed that the use of white or red onions was an Americanization.

←

Maybe that was before my time. For the first half of my life where I lived and grew up in Hong Kong in the 60's/70's, I had always seen regular onions used in restaurant dishes. e.g. in stir-fries with fermented black beans, Hong Kong style curry.

When you said "red onions" I assume you meant shallots but not the big red sweet onions used in salad. Shallots are used too in Cantonese style but not as common.

[jo-mel]

Just checking thru a couple of 'mainland' China cookbooks, I see the use of regular onions in beef or pig intestine recipes.

I always link onions with traditional northern cooking, along with garlic and leeks.

But isn't there some sort of Buddhist taboo on onions? Making them less popular as a vegetable?

[jhirshon]

Yes, there is a Buddhist taboo on not just onions, but garlic and I believe leeks as well - the classic 'Pure Meal of the Arhats' recipe calls for none of these ingredients.

cheers, JH

[Sugarshoc]

This was really good! My husband went crazy over it. Next time, I'm going to try boneless chicken thighs instead of breast. I'll also use a little less salt. It was a great dish and I'm just loving the ginger.

[hzrt8w]

Thank you sugarhoc!

Feel free to browse my collection of 82 pictorial recipes (and counting):

Pictorial Index

and cook some more goodies to win your husband's heart!

Edited October 20, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[ash123]

I loved this dish. Simple to cook and very tasty. Two of my favorites here, green onions and ginger. Let us know if you have more dishes like these. This is sure to go in my routinely cooked dishes.

Thanks.

Thank you sugarhoc! 

Feel free to browse my collection of 82 pictorial recipes (and counting):

Pictorial Index

and cook some more goodies to win your husband's heart!

←

[eje]

Gotta admit I've made a lot of chicken sautees in my life, and this was one of the tastiest! We were practically licking the plates.

Yum!

Thanks for posting another delicious pictorial, Ah Leung!

[I_call_the_duck]

It took me long enough, but I finally made this last night, and it was absolutely delicious. It was so homey and comforting. I used chicken breasts, but I think next time I'll go for dark meat, and brown it as jo-mel suggested. And yes, lots of white rice to sop up the sauce.

We paired this dish with a Pecorino, a white wine from the Abruzzo region of Italy. It worked very well with the ginger. (BTW, no logic behind the pairing--it was leftover from a previous meal.)

[I_call_the_duck]

Ah Leung,

Mr. Duck and I were in Italy a couple of weeks ago visiting his sister, her family, and their friends. I made this a couple of weeks ago, using bone-in chicken thighs (hacked in two). Everybody loved it!! I even saw someone having it for breakfast the next morning.

I love this dish. I just want to eat the entire pot in one sitting.

Thanks again for a great recipe.

Edited October 4, 2007 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[junehl]

It looks great, i think I have seen it where they also use white chopped chicken (bak chom gai)? and then pour the sauce on top.

But I think i like this version better, less bones to mess with and quicker too!

[jayejo]

It looks great, i think I have seen it where they also use white chopped chicken (bak chom gai)? and then pour the sauce on top.

But I think i like this version better, less bones to mess with and quicker too!

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We just had this dish at a restaurant in Toronto and it was so good! It seemed stir-fried though...Thank you so much, I'm going to make this soon for sure!