Soy Sauce Chicken Two Ways
One of my favorite things to order at a Chinese BBQ shop is actually not barbecued at all. See Yao Gai or Soy Sauce Chicken is a poached chicken and incredibly underrated. It’s a quintessential Cantonese dish that can hold its own against the roast ducks and crispy pork bellies hanging in Chinese BBQ display windows. When done right, soy sauce chicken is melt-in-your-mouth tender and deeply flavorful.
I developed a recipe for Traditional Soy Sauce Chicken and a grilled version that has all the same comforting flavors but with the added smoky charcoal flavor and a crisp skin! Both options are simple and easy enough to make at home and rely on the same baseline ingredients. A big part of my work as a recipe developer is finding ways to honor culinary traditions, food that reminds me of home and family, while still exploring ways to expand on those traditional flavors with new techniques. This duo of soy sauce chicken recipes is a perfect example of that dichotomy! With solid techniques and quality ingredients you can have the best of both worlds!
Besides a good quality chicken, a delicious soy sauce is foundational to the recipe. Lee Kum Kee’s Premium Soy Sauce and Dark Soy Sauce are staples in my kitchen and I love to use both in these recipes: the regular soy sauce for seasoning and dark soy sauce for color and a touch of sweetness. It’s easy for soy sauce chicken to get too salty but I love that Lee Kum Kee is not overly salty and is balanced with natural notes of caramel, mushrooms, and coffee depending on the variety.
Lee Kum Kee’s line of soy sauces are made with carefully selected and harvested non-GMO soybeans and are combined with wheat and salt at a later stage for fermentation. So, whether you decide to go the traditional or grilled route for your soy sauce chicken, make sure to pick up some bottles of Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce for the best soy flavor!
Traditional Soy Sauce Chicken (Poached)
Serves 4
2 tbsp neutral oil
3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
4 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, smashed
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
4 small dried chinese chilis
2 cups Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Lee Kum Kee Premium Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 cup shaoxing wine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp coarse salt
1 4lb chicken
In a heavy bottom pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add ginger, green onions, and garlic. Stir-fry the aromatics until lightly browned around the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the anise, cinnamon, and chilis and stir-fry for another minute. Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, wine, brown sugar, and salt. Stir to combine and dissolve the sugar.
Carefully lower in the chicken, breast-side down, making sure the liquid makes its way into the cavity of the chicken. Fill the pot with enough water so that it just nearly covers the whole chicken. Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer, lower the heat to maintain the simmer. Poach the chicken, spooning the liquid over the top occasionally until the breast meat registers at about 150F degrees, about 35 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid and let the chicken sit in the poaching liquid for another 15 minutes, until it reaches 165F degrees.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 15 minutes. Carve the chicken and serve with steamed rice or noodles.
Grilled Soy Sauce Chicken
Serves 4
1 4lb chicken
1 cups Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Lee Kum Kee Premium Dark Soy Sauce
1/4 cup shaoxing wine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp coarse salt
2 tsp chinese five spice
glaze:
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce
Spatchcock the chicken by cutting out the backbone. Transfer the chicken to a resealable bag. Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, wine, brown sugar, salt, and chinese five spice. Seal the bag, making sure to press out most of the air, and gently shake/toss the bag so the marinade is well combined. Set the bag on a plate and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
1 hour before cooking, discard the marinade and place the chicken on a plate or cutting board and pat the chicken dry. Allow the chicken to come up to room temperature. In a small bowl, mix to combine maple syrup and soy sauce.
Prepare your charcoal grill. Place the chicken skin-side up on the grill over indirect heat. Cover with the lid and let the chicken cook until the skin is taut and crisp around the edges, about 30 minutes. Start brushing on the glaze every 5 minutes, until the skin is caramelized and the internal breast meat registers at 165F degrees.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 15 minutes. Carve the chicken and serve with steamed rice or noodles.