Super easy Chinese steamed chicken with ginger and green onion which only requires 10 minutes of preparation. Matched with a fabulous oyster sauce-based sauce.
Steaming might be the easiest way of cooking chicken. Steaming is a really popular cooking method in every Chinese kitchen. Steamed dishes are simple, quick, and always tender in texture. Simply marinate the chicken chunks for minutes to obtain a basic flavor, then transfer them to a steamer and steam. That’s so simple. I have made this steamed chicken recipe several times this summer.
Why steaming
People in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces love to serve this chicken directly since the steamed chicken keeps the natural taste of a high-quality chicken. There are lots of umami components in chicken meat. Steaming can preserve the flavor to the maximum.
Ingredients needed
- Organic younger chicken: younger chicken is commonly used in steamed dishes, stir-fried or poached chicken.
- green onion: also known as spring onion. It helps to enhance the flavor and move the raw taste of the chicken. Green onions can be replaced by scallions.
- ginger: ginger is an important aromatic for food that use fewer seasonings. It helps to remove the raw taste.
- Shaoxing wine: also known as Chinese cooking wine. It is widely used in meat dishes. You can substitute with dry sherry if desired.
- salt to taste: since we will serve with a dipping sauce, spare the salt amount to make the chicken meat refreshing.
- light soy sauce: light soy sauce gives a basic Umami flavor to the chicken.
The oyster-based sauce
I developed this oyster-based dipping sauce for this super simple steamed chicken. Oyster sauce is a savory, thick paste sauce popular in southern China. It goes super well with blanched vegetables and proteins. The reason why I choose an oyster sauce-based sauce is because of the thick paste texture, making it working not as a regular dipping sauce but as a lovely thick coating. This will form a very strong comparison with the juicy and tender steamed chicken.
Instructions
Spread the marinating sauce evenly on the cleaned chicken—every place. Put ginger and green onion shreds on top and marinate at least for 30 minutes. If you are not in a hurry, I would suggest preparing the chicken in the morning and making this as lunch or dinner.
Steaming Tips
- If you get a rice cooker, you can choose to steam this along with the steamed rice. Simply get a rice cooker steamer. It's a lovely idea to save energy and time.
- Or you can also choose to steam this in a regular steamer for around 20 minutes.
🧾Recipe
Chinese Steamed Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- Half of a whole chicken , around 1 and ½ pound
- 1 tbsp. ginger shreds
- 1 tbsp. green onion shreds , white part
Marinating sauce
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tsp. Chinese cooking wine
- ½ tsp. salt
Dip sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 4 tbsp. water
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp. chopped green onions
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
Instructions
- Clean the chicken and then spread the marinating sauce evenly on both sides.
- Lay ginger shreds and green onion shreds over to marinate at least 30 minutes. Then place in your steamer. I am using the steamer of my electric rice cooker. If you are using a steamer with wok or pot, steam with high fire around 20 minutes until soft (or you can easily insert a chop sticker in). Transfer out and cut into chunks of your favorite size. Decorate with green onions.
Dipping sauce
- In a sauce pan, heat up 1 tablespoon sesame oil and stir fry chopped garlic and green onion until aroma. And then add oyster sauce, light soy sauce and water. Mix well and bring all the content to a boiling. Transfer to dipping bowl and cool down a little bit.
- Serve steamed chicken with dipping sauce.
Am
OMG! I tried this recipe today, and just finished eating. It was really really really delicious. The dip sauce compliments the chicken really well.
I am so glad I tried out this recipe.
Thanks.
p/s: instead of chinese cooking wine, I used apple cider vinegar, and boy it tasted damn good too.
Elaine
Hi,
Thanks for your encouraging comment. This is my favorite way to cook organic young chicken. Happy cooking. Wish you love my other recipes too.
Merry Beltran
I so glad this recipe doesn’t involve many steps. Very delicious looking photos
Elaine
Thanks Merry,
You will find it is quite easy and yummy.
Liz
I make this dish last night and my mam and sir like it, thank you
Elaine
Thank for your feedback. Glad to know it turns out great.
ZA
I tried this dish today and its so yummy!! My husband & kids love it. Thank you.
Elaine
Thanks so much ZA for such a lovely feedback. This one is definitely one of the best dishes for kids. Happy cooking!
1!
Wu chin pao
I missed to eat steam chicken
I have often to eat before
Elaine
It is quite easy as long as you cook at home. Happy cooking!
Peggy
This receipt is so in detail. I follow your receipt and it taste really yummy. Thanks you very much Elaine Lou. Appreciate
Elaine
Thanks Peggy for the wonderful feedback.
Areesha Zahid
This recipe looks delicious! I love easy dinner recipes, especially when they turn out to be something my whole family loves!. This one also looks tasty.
Mary
Thank you very much for yoir recipe. I have a metal pot steamer & like Siva Nathan, after steaming, the bowl of chicken filled up with the steam water & the chicken is drowned in the water. How do I solve this problem?
Elaine
Hi Mary,
You can cover a plastic wrapper or silver paper over the bowl if you cannot change the steamer. Or use another steam with a dome like lid.
Fred
I noticed that people from South Asia tightly wrap a kitchen towel around the bottom side of the lid and secure the towel at the top of the lid with a strong clothespin. Perhaps this will help.
Mary Tee
This is Mary again. Thank you very much, Elaine, for your reply and your advice. Instead of covering with a plastic cover can I cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper? Or can I simply cover it with a plate? What is silver paper? Will the plastic cover melt while steaming?
Thank you once again for the delicious recipe. My family love it & I'm going to cook it again for my daughter tomorrow. Thanks a zillion??.
Elaine
silver paper is aluminum foil paper. If your steamer is large enough, cover a plate can work too.
Chris Kypridemou
In the pic you show the measurements as teaspoons but in the instructions it \shows tbsp, can you please clarify
Elaine
Chris,
That's my fault. Please follow the recipe section.