Joi Gai -- Drunken Chicken

FLKeysJen's Note:

This is a traditional dish of Shanghai for which the city is quite famous. It is usually served as the first course of a banquet, but also makes a nice lunch or dinner entree for warm weather. Adapted from "The Chinese Way: Healthy Low-Fat Cooking From China's Regions."

• Total Time: 1 hrs 50 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 (1 lb) chicken breasts , with skin and bones intact (2 pounds)
• 6 cups cold water
• 2 scallions , trimmed and cut in half
• 1⁄3; cup fresh cilantro , cut into 3-inch pieces (leaves and stems)
• 2 small onions , cut in quarters
• 1 inch ginger , lightly smashed
• ¾ teaspoon salt

Wine Sauce

• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine or 2 tablespoons sherry wine
• white pepper , to taste

Directions:

1. Place first seven ingredients in a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to simmer, leave lid partially open, and simmer for 20 minutes. (Halfway through, at 10 minutes, turn chicken over.) Turn heat off, cover pot again and allow chicken to rest in liquid for 15 more minutes.
2. Combine the wine sauce ingredients with 1/4 cup poaching liquid from the previous step. Reserve.
3. Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool. Remove skin and bones and slice into 1 x 2-inch pieces. Place in a serving dish. Stir wine sauce and pour over chicken. Allow chicken to marinate for one hour, refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap. Serve cool.

Reviews

[cookiedog]

This took me straight back to Shanghai! I couldn't get enough of it and ate it piece by piece while I waited for it to marinate. It tastes very light, the onions, cilantro, and ginger really impart their flavor into the chicken. The cooking method insures that the meat is moist and succulent. I'll refer to this recipe when I need chicken for salads too. I cooked some asparagus in the left-over broth and I'll probably add some veggies to the broth tomorrow for lunch. Thank you PAC Baby '09