Steamed Chicken Wings with Dried Lily Flowers (金針蒸鷄翼, Gam1 Zam1 Zing1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 30 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Lily flowers (also called lily buds) are often used in steamed Chinese dishes with chicken. Lily flowers can be purchased dried at your local Asian market. After being rehydrated, the lily flowers are tied into a knot to prevent them from unfurling. You have to be gentle while tying them since the rehydrated flowers will break. The dried lily flowers should be light brown in color and if they turn black, the dried lily flowers are past their prime and should be discarded.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 lb.	1 kg.	Chicken wings (雞翼, gai1 jik6), cut into individual pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
20-30	20-30	Dried lily flowers (金針, kam1 zam1), rehydrated and tied into a knot

 

Equipment

12 in.	30 cm.	Steamer (or larger)
9 in.	23 cm.	Plate or bowl for steaming
		Plate lifter

 

Instructions

1. Pour boiling water over the dried lily flowers in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the lily flowers for 30 minutes.
2. Cut the chicken wings into individual pieces. You can purchase individual chicken wing midjoint or drumette pieces at Asian markets in place of using whole wings - in this case I used chicken wing drumettes. Marinate the chicken for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the chicken overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Place the chicken wings into the steaming bowl together with the marinade. Remove the lily flowers from the rehydration liquid and discard the liquid. Cut off and discard any hard ends of the lily flower. Tie each flower into a knot to keep them from unfurling and place the tied lily flowers on top of the chicken wings in the steaming bowl.
4. Fill the steamer with water and bring to a vigorous boil over high heat. Put the plate with the chicken into the steamer and cook over high heat for 5 minutes before reducing the heat to simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the plate from the steamer with a plate lifter, and serve with steamed rice.