Steamed chicken success

I grew up in Fremont, CA, where there were numerous Asian immigrant communities. Finding authentic food was easy, and there was a lot of deliciousness.  I particularly remember a low-key joint near my high school called “Uncle Chong.”  I think a friend recommended it (she’s Vietnamese-American but her very foodie family kept tabs on all the great eats).  And, she directed me to try the “steamed chicken.”  It sounded dull, but it was actually a gorgeous dish, perfect in its simplicity.  For some reason it has been on my mind, so I did a little research online and the technique sounded relatively simple.

So, a couple of days ago, I took 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and dropped them in a ziploc bag with a couple of splashes of light and dark soy, a bigger splash of rice wine vinegar, and chunks of galangal (I had bought a “Thai ingredients” raw pack which groceries here bundle to use the lemongrass and such for my soup the other day, so had it on hand).  The next day I added slivers of ginger as well (procured after a grocery stop– you’d be fine to use just ginger, I think).  I turned it a couple of times in the fridge to make sure it was well-coated.

Today I put an inch or so of water in the bottom of a metal pan, and added the steamer insert just above.  I let it come to a boil, added in the chicken pieces with the chunks of ginger and galangal on them, and covered with a close-fitting lid.  I turned the heat way down to let it simmer/steam, and set the timer for 40 minutes.

I used my handy Alaskan oulu to chop up about a 2 inch knob of ginger, 5 garlic cloves, and 6 stalks of green onion, and sliced in a couple of chilies.  I dumped that, with a couple of tablespoons of oil, in a saute pan on med-low heat.  I let it cook for about 15 minutes or so; you want to draw out the flavors of the aromatics but not brown them.  I added some light and dark soy, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, and sesame oil to a bowl, and then dumped in the aromatics with all the oil they’d cooked in.

When the chicken was done, I let it cool.  I then removed the skin and bone, shredded, and poured a few spoons full of the sauce over it.  It was SUPERB.  It wasn’t the same texture that I remembered from Uncle Chong– not sure if the salt penetration from the soy perhaps changed it, but it was absolutely full of delicious flavor, and the sauce was divine.  I’ve got some left and might use it with super crispy oven-baked chicken wings later in the week.  Not to worry, we’ll talk about how the super crispiness happens when I make it.

We ended up having the chicken along with the leftover Thai soup with the rice, baby corn, and mushrooms in it, so it felt like a complete meal.  I’d thought to make bacon-garlic cauliflower “rice,” but just did not feel up to more time in the kitchen.

If you want a super yummy low-carb meal, you can do as follows for your side dish:  cook up lardons in a wok and set aside, and pour off the grease. Use a bit of grease to saute mushrooms, set aside. Two chopped small onions and a whole lot of garlic cloves, chopped, and cook it up in a bit of the grease. Then take a big cauliflower, break it into pieces, and run it through the shredder attachment of your food processor. Add the it to the onion/garlic in the wok, stir fry on medium-high for two minutes, turn down to medium, and cover and let cook for 5 minutes. Add back in the mushrooms and lardons. Add a little soy, vinegar, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and terriyaki sauce (or your preferred mix of stuff– if you’ve made enough of the dipping sauce for the chicken, feel free to use that!). Scramble some eggs and stir them in. Would be good to garnish with some green onions, too.

While I am still not feeling 100% and my ear stuffiness and nose runniness continue to bedevil me, I’m glad we got to enjoy some noms.  Apologies for the lack of photos in this post.  I’ll up my game when I feel more the thing.