Steamed Ginger Chicken

A most comforting dish. Marinate chicken legs in a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Layer with ginger and then steam. The chicken gets super tender and juicy, and the marinade turns into a onolicious sauce. Best enjoyed with rice.

The flavor of this chicken dish is classic comfort, built on soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Give me this and bowl of rice, and I am set!

Steaming is one of my favorite cooking methods (easy clean up, no oil needed, always so elegant feeling) and this dish is a great example of why.

It's clean and gentle, but still full of flavors and textures. From the crunchy green onions on top, to the gentle sweet pops of goji berries and all that ginger. Oh man, I love ginger.

And don't forget the sauce! The chicken juices and marinade combine to form this crazy good sauce that demands to be spooned over rice.

Why This Recipe Works

This is a simple recipe that draws on three ingredients essential to any Hawaii pantry: soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. You can't go wrong with that trio of flavors.

We mix all the sauces together and use that to marinate the chicken.

The marinated chicken is steamed with ginger and goji berries (optional, but delicious). Then we sprinkle on green onions and eat! With rice, of course.

It's a foolproof recipe, and the only way you can really mess up is by steaming the chicken for too long (but I trust you won't do that haha).

This is a flexible recipe. Use more or less of any ingredient and feel free to tailor to your personal tastes. When cooking for myself, I'll double or even triple the ginger.

Ingredients

• Chicken Legs - We use chicken legs, but you can also make this with chicken thighs. Try to stick with dark meat for this recipe.
• Soy Sauce - Kikkoman Soy Sauce and Aloha Shoyu are our two go-to brands.
• Oyster Sauce - Lee Kum Kee is a popular brand (make sure to get the oyster sauce and not oyster-flavored sauce).
• Sesame Oil - We go through a lot of sesame oil and use mainly Kadoya for cooking.
• Ginger - Peeled and julienned. We go through a lot of ginger so I like to peel and julienne ginger in bulk and then store them in the freezer. That way you can just easily have julienned ginger on hand whenever you need!
• Goji Berries - Goji berries are optional, but I like the bit of sweetness and color they contribute.
• Green Onion - Thinly sliced or chopped small, up to you. We sprinkle the green onions on at the end right before serving.

Step by Step Directions

Ready to start cooking? Let's begin!

Marinate.
Pat the two chicken legs dry.

Make the steamed chicken marinade: mix together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Pour it over the chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes (and up to a day).

Note: A 15-minute marinade also works if you're in a rush. But it's worth marinating for longer if you can. So much more flavor.

Layer.
In a shallow steaming dish, place half the ginger on the bottom. Place the chicken legs on top of the ginger.

Scatter the other half of the ginger and the goji berries on top of the chicken legs.

The goji berries are optional but they make a very nice visual touch. Plus they taste good and are good for you ^_^

Steam.
Steam for 20 minutes.

Tip: Depending on the size of the chicken legs, cooking time can be a shorter or longer. 20 minutes is a good average.

Check to see if it cooked by gently poking a chopstick in the chicken. If the chicken is cooked, the chopstick should go in pretty easily.

Garnish and Eat.
Remove and top with the green onions.

Eat and enjoy! Best with a big bowl of rice, so you can spoon all the sauces in the dish over the rice.

Sauce, rice, and chicken! What more could you want ^_^

FAQs and Tips

Steamed Ginger Chicken Recipe

See below and enjoy ^_^