Soy Sauce Chicken Gizzards (豉油鸡胗, Si6 Jau4 Gai1 San2)

This recipe was updated on 22 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Chicken gizzards (鸡胗, gai¹ san²) are an often discarded part of the chicken here in the USA, but are quite good when prepared correctly. Using the technique to make a poached soy sauce chicken, Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鷄, Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹), chicken gizzards can be made tender and tasty. The soy sauce poaching liquid gives this recipe its distinctive flavor.

Whenever I make this recipe, I use a lot of chicken gizzards (in this case 3 pounds – 1.5 kg.) because whether or not you cook 1- (500 g.) or 3 pounds (1.5 kg.) of chicken gizzards, it takes the same amount of time. Chicken gizzards prepared this way can be eaten alone (often served as an appetizer), or as part of another dish. The Three Pepper Chicken Gizzards (三椒鸡胗, Saam¹ Ziu¹ Gai¹ San²) recipe uses the chicken gizzards prepared using this method. The poaching liquid also makes a good basis for a sauce, but is usually not used alone since it’s very salty.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

3 lb.	1.5 kg.	Chicken gizzards (鸡胗, gai1 san2)
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), lightly crushed
2 slices	2 slices	Ginger (薑, goeng1), lightly crushed
1	1	Dried date (蜜棗, mat6 zou2)
1	1	Dried tangerine peel (陳皮, can4 pei4)
4 whole	4 whole	Star anise (八角, baat3 gok3)
1 stick	1 stick	Cassia bark (桂皮, gwai3 pei4) or cinnamon
¾ oz.	20 g.	One piece rock sugar (冰糖, bing1 tong4)
2 cups	500 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 cup	250 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
5 cups	1.25 l.	Water

 

Equipment

		Slotted spoon
4 qt.	3.8 L.	Covered bowl
3.5 in.	9 cm.	Soak-out cooker to hold the spices
8 qt.	7.5 L.	Pot

 

3.5 in. (9 cm.) Soak-Out Cooker

Instructions

1. Put the lightly crushed garlic and ginger, dried date, dried tangerine peel, star anise, cassia bark or cinnamon, and rock sugar into a soak out cooker. Close and lock the soak out cooker before putting it into a large pot. If the rock sugar does not fit into the soak out cooker, add it directly into the pot. 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) of granulated sugar can be substituted if rock sugar is not available, in which case, add the sugar directly into the pot. Add the chicken gizzards, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, and water into the pot.
2. Heat the pot over high heat uncovered and bring the mixture to a boil. Skim and discard any scum or fat that rises to the top of the liquid in the pot. Cover and reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 60 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, uncover the pot, and remove the chicken gizzards with a slotted spoon, saving most of the poaching liquid in a heat proof covered bowl. The chicken gizzards can be refrigerated in the poaching liquid, if desired. The chicken gizzards can be used as the basis for other dishes or eaten alone, and the poaching liquid can be used as the basis for sauces in other dishes. The poaching liquid by itself is usually too salty to be used alone, so it needs to be made a component of a sauce.