Kwong Sai Style (Guang Xi) Poached Chicken with Chinese Chives and Ginger Dressing | BIG Bites MY

Kwong Sai Style (Guang Xi) Poached Chicken with Chinese Chives and Ginger Dressing

This dish makes a regular appearance on my dinner table every few weeks. Yes, it is oily, but poached chicken and the fragrant Chinese chives oil are such a great combination! This dish is SO EASY LAH to prepare and so yummy to eat! The recipe shown here feeds one to two; just double up accordingly if you are cooking for more. Make sure you cook more rice because this dish goes so well with a bowl of hot rice that you are sure to want a second bowl of rice.

Watch video for step-by-step method of preparation

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Prep time: 15 minutes 

Cooking time: 20 minutes + 1 hour resting time

Serving: 1 to 2 (increase portions accordingly if you are cooking for more)

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken whole leg
• 1 thumb size (40g) ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) groundnut oil
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) soy sauce
• 1 small bunch spring onion
• 40g Chinese chives

Method:

1. Rub chicken leg with salt and let it marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours. (I prefer to let it marinate overnight).
2. Trim off the ends of the Chinese chives and cut them into 8mm lengths
3. Cut off a small portion of the spring onion leaves and julienne them finely. Then soak them in cold water to make spring onion curls for garnish. Crush the remaining spring onion to release flavors and bunch it up into a knot.
4. Scrape off the ginger skin, rinse it and cut off 2 slices. Set aside the sliced ginger for later. You may chop up the remaining ginger or grate it as I have chosen to do in this recipe. 
5. Bring 1000ml of water to a boil (enough water to cover the chicken leg). Add sliced ginger and the spring onion knot. Add the chicken leg to the boiling water and bring it up to a boil again.
6. Let the chicken boil over MEDIUM HIGH heat for about 7 minutes.
7. Flip the chicken occasionally.
8. After 7 minutes, turn off the heat. Cover the pot and let the chicken soak in the hot broth until it cools down (the chicken will continue cooking in the hot broth).
9. Heat up groundnut oil in a saucepan over MEDIUM HIGH heat until smoking hot to make the Chinese chives oil mixture.
10. TURN OFF HEAT when the oil is smoking hot. Add Chinese chives and grated ginger* (see Note below). Stir to combine.
11. Add sesame oil and soy sauce. Stir to combine. Taste and flavor to your liking.
12. Remove the chicken leg from the broth after it has cooled down. (Keep the broth for other dishes like soups).
13. Pierce the thickest part of the chicken leg with a chopstick. If the juices run clear, the chicken is cooked. If the juices are bloody, steam the chicken for 3 minutes to fully cook it.
14. Shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. If the chicken is still red inside, steam the chicken for another 3 minutes to fully cook it.
15. Add a few spoonfuls of the Chinese chives oil mixture to the shredded chicken. Toss to combine.
16. Plate up and drizzle the remaining Chinese chives oil mixture over the chicken
17. Garnish with the spring onion curls

Notes:

1. I prefer to poach the chicken because I prefer the texture of poached chicken. Poaching makes it trickier to cook because it is easy to undercook or overcook it. If you are not comfortable poaching the chicken, you can steam it for 20 minutes over MEDIUM HIGH heat.
2. Most cooks will put the Chinese chives and ginger in a heatproof bowl and then pour the hot groundnut oil into the bowl. It will usually make the countertop quite oily because when the hot oil touches the cold chives, it will splatter. I prefer to turn off the heat and pour the Chinese chives and ginger into the pot containing the hot oil. And then stir it until it cools down a little before seasoning it with soy sauce and sesame oil. Use your own judgement or preference.