Make Super Tender Chicken By Steaming Poultry The Cantonese Way

Chicken is one of my favorite proteins to cook with and eat. It's versatile and relatively affordable, and you can cook it in no less than a billion ways, which is a precise scientific measurement. In fact, I just found out that you can poach your chicken for ridiculously tender meat. But as a Chinese-American, I've had the privilege of enjoying succulent chicken from day one. In Guangdong, steamed chicken recipes are super popular, and for good reason. Once you see how tender your chicken gets just by steaming it, you'll never want to cook your bird any other way.

First, you're going to need some drumsticks. This meat is the most tender when steamed, and it's a leaner chunk, so you don't have to worry about tons of fat rendering out while you cook it. (This is actually one of the secrets to making succulent karaage, too!) Since we're not delving into an actual recipe, I'll skip the specifics, but this is where you'd add marinade ingredients: your green onions and garlic, cooking wine, spices, and so on. For the actual steaming, spread your chicken evenly in a flat ceramic dish along with any other ingredients (sausage, shiitake mushrooms, etc). Don't pile things in the middle of the dish since steamed food is cooked from the outside. Place a steaming rack in your wok and add water to the rack. Cover and let it come to a boil. Once boiling, put the plate on the rack and cover it up, keeping the heat high. It should take around 15-20 minutes to cook, depending on the size and cut of your meat; you can check doneness with a food thermometer.

Before you get cooking, here are a few things you can do to make your succulent steamed chicken even more delicious. If you're cooking bone-in, give your chicken a few good whacks to break those bones up a bit. This allows the bone marrow to seep into the dish, flavoring the broth and chicken with an extra layer of umami.

Now, let's look at the skin. Aside from this guy who decided to take his fried chicken skin and grind it into a fine powder, most people don't spend much time thinking about the skin of their mealtime birds. You can take it off or leave it on. Taking it off is a bit better if you're watching your health since it has quite a bit of fat. But if you're all about that extra moist meat and flavor, leave the skin on. It also helps your meat keep its shape while steaming. Note that you can use chicken breast if you'd prefer not to deal with skin and bones and it'll still come out incredibly tender, but it won't be quite as moist and flavorful. And there you have it! An easy way to steam your chicken into flavorful, tender perfection, the Cantonese way.