Soy Sauce Chicken with Salty Plums

Hong Kong-style Soy Sauce Chicken is a widely recognised dish that is remarkably simple to prepare yet incredibly flavourful. This time, BigBoy adds a small twist by incorporating preserved plums into the soy sauce base, cleverly infusing the sauce with a sweet and fruity aroma.

Stewed Plum Soy Sauce Chicken is a classic dish with a unique flavour, distinguished by its slow soaking method. This technique not only allows the chicken to gradually absorb the aromatic spices but also ensures that the meat remains tender and is infused with a subtle plum sweetness. Throughout the soaking process, the chicken becomes increasingly flavourful and maintains a delicate texture, making each bite rich in aroma and taste.

Since this dish is cooked by slow steeping, precise temperature control is crucial. The soy sauce mixture needs to be kept between 80-90°C. When the liquid starts to emit a lot of steam and small bubbles appear on the surface, reduce the heat to low immediately. Place the whole chicken into the pot, maintaining a steady stream of steam without allowing it to boil. Keeping the mixture at this state for a prolonged period ensures the chicken soaks up the flavours without becoming overcooked, resulting in a tender and delicious outcome.

Stewed Plum Soy Sauce Chicken is a highly appealing home-cooked dish. By mastering temperature control, the chicken naturally absorbs the flavours from the soy sauce and plum spices, creating a harmonious pairing that feels like the perfect culinary companion on the table.

Ingredients

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Basic Ingredients

Chicken	1 each
Ginger Slices	4 slices
Spring Onion	2 sprigs
Salt	3 tsp
Water	2 L

Soy Sauce with Salty Plums

Salty Plums	15each
Dried Spice (Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, fennel seeds, and dried black cardamom, etc.)	70g
Soy Sauce	500ml
Dark Soy Sauce	100ml
Rock Sugar	300g
Water	3L

Steps

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1. Trim off the chicken's head, feet, and excess skin (keep the feet for making soup later). Then, rinse the chicken thoroughly inside and out with clean water.

2. Boil 2 L of water, adding ginger slices, spring onions, and salt. Grip the chicken neck, dip the chicken up and down in the water repeatedly, immersing it for 2 seconds each time, for a total of 10 dips. This step helps to remove any gamey odor and makes the chicken skin firm and crispy.

3. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat without adding oil. Add the larger spices such as cinnamon sticks and dried tangerine peel first, and stir-fry until fragrant. After a while, add the smaller spices like cloves and fennel seeds. Once the spices are well-toasted, place them into a soup bag or tea bag.

4. Combine 3L of water, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rock sugar, the brine bag, and preserved plums in a pot. Bring to a medium heat until it starts to emit a lot of steam. Then, reduce to the lowest heat to maintain a gentle simmer (known as "shrimp-eye water," where the bubbles are the size of shrimp eyes), keeping the temperature around 80-90°C.

5. Immerse the whole chicken in the sauce, ensuring that the liquid flows into the cavity of the chicken. Every 5-10 minutes, lift the chicken to allow different parts to be soaked in the sauce. For a chicken weighing around 1 KG, soak for 40 minutes; for a 1.2-1.5 KG chicken, soak for 45 minutes.

6. Once the chicken is done soaking, let it cool. Use scissors to cut the chicken; even beginners can handle it easily.

7. First, cut off the chicken neck. Separate the chicken wings at the joints. Cut the chicken thighs at the joints as well, dividing both the upper and lower thighs into two pieces each. Remove the chicken tail. Starting from the tail, cut the chicken back and breast symmetrically into halves, then cut them into your desired size.

Finally, place the chicken on a plate and drizzle with soy sauce before serving.