Hard Apple Cider Soy Sauce Chicken (蘋果酒豉油鷄, Ping4 Gwo2 Zau2 Si6 Jau4 Gai1)

If this recipe and the above picture look familiar, then you’ve looked at the Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鷄, Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹) recipe. This recipe differs by the use of hard apple cider instead of Shaoxing Rice Wine in the poaching liquid. The chicken takes on a slightly sweeter flavor when hard apple cider is used. The poached chicken’s dark color comes from the use of thick soy sauce, which has molasses in it. Usually soy sauce chicken recipes call for the use of dark soy sauce, which you can use, but I prefer using thick soy sauce because it produces a better overall dark color in the chicken. Poaching chicken is an easy and fast way to cook a chicken. The Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe has instructions on how to cut and present the chicken. Just be sure you have a good sharp Chinese cleaver and a wood cutting board, and with a little practice, you’ll be able to cut chickens as if you worked in a Chinese delicatessen. The chicken can be served immediately while warm or at room temperature after overnight refrigeration.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 lb.	2.75 kg.	Whole chicken (雞, gai1)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), lightly crushed
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), lightly crushed
1	1	Dried tangerine peel (陳皮, can4 pei4)
1	1	Dried date (蜜棗, mat6 zou2)
2 whole	2 whole	Star anise (八角, baat3 gok3)
1 stick	1 stick	Stick cassia bark (桂皮, gwai3 pei4) or cinnamon
1 piece	1 piece	Rock sugar (冰糖, bing1 tong4)
3 Tbs.	45 ml.	Koon Chun Sauce Factory brand Thick Soy Sauce (上珠油, soeng6 zyu1 jau4) or equivalent; dark soy sauce (老抽, lou5 cau1) can also be used
2 cups	500 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
12 oz.	355 ml.	One bottle hard apple cider (蘋果酒, ping4 gwo2 zau2)
4 cups	1 l.	Water

Equipment

8 qt.	7.5 L.	Pot
3.5 in.	9 cm.	Soak-out cooker to hold the spices

Instructions

Koon Chun Sauce Factory Brand
Thick Soy Sauce (上珠油, soeng6 zyu1 jau4)

1. Put the lightly crushed ginger and garlic, dried tangerine peel, dried date, star anise, cassia bark or cinnamon stick, and rock sugar into the soak-out cooker. Put the soak-out cooker into the pot.
2. Add the water and soy sauce to the pot. If Koon Chun Sauce Factory brand Thick Soy Sauce or equivalent is being used, it needs to be incorporated into another liquid, so put the thick soy sauce into a bowl, add the hard apple cider, and mix the ingredients together before adding it to the pot. If using dark soy sauce, just add the dark soy sauce and hard apple cider directly into the pot. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat uncovered, and then reduce the 

   

   Whole Poached Hard Apple Cider Soy Sauce Chicken

   heat and simmer covered for at least 15 minutes. It’s all right to simmer the pot for a longer period since the poaching solution gains more flavor the longer it’s simmered. Prepare the chicken in the meantime.
3. Wash and remove any excess fat from the whole chicken. Gently rub the outside of the chicken to remove any remaining yellow skin. Ideally all the yellow skin was removed during the vendor’s chicken cleaning process, but some always remains and will prevent the marinade from penetrating the skin, resulting in an uneven colored cooked chicken. Use your fingers and rub any remaining yellow skin from the chicken under cold running water.
4. After the pot has simmered for at least 15 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the soak-out cooker, and discard the contents. Be very careful since the soak-out cooker will be very hot.
5. Carefully put the chicken, breast side up, into the pot. You want the chicken’s cavity to fill up with the poaching liquid and to displace as much air as possible, otherwise the chicken will float resulting in an uneven colored cooked chicken. Try holding the legs and place the chicken at an angle, butt side down, into the poaching liquid. This should displace the maximum amount of air from the chicken’s cavity. If the chicken is not fully covered by the poaching liquid, add more water to fully submerse the chicken.
6. Turn up the heat to high and as the liquid returns to the boil, skim any fat from the surface. As soon as the poaching liquid begins to boil (when the first bubbles appear), cover the pot, and turn off the heat. Leave the covered pot on the burner for one hour.
7. Remove the chicken from the pot and allow to cool for one hour or overnight in the refrigerator. Skim any fat from the liquid remaining in the pot and then save the poaching liquid. The poaching liquid can be used as the basis for any stir fry sauces and can be reused as the base for another poaching liquid.
8. The chicken can be cut and presented using the instructions found in the Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe. The chicken can be served immediately while warm or at room temperature after overnight refrigeration.