Soy Sauce Chicken

My sister recently came to visit me for an extended weekend. I decided to make a simple dinner at home since she was arriving into town after a 8+ hour drive. On the menu was a summery watermelon arugula salad and soy sauce chicken with rice.

I had my soy sauce chicken sauce which I keep in the freezer.  This is how I think lo sui sauce is made. The literal translation for lo sui is "old water". The chicken imparts flavor and collagen into the sauce as it cooks. The reduction and collagen thickens the sauce with each use. With so much soy sauce and the fact that it is frozen and then reboiled each time, I've never been concerned about the sauce turning.

My sister loved having steamed white rice mixed with the braising sauce so much that she made herself at least 1 bowl for each day of her visit.

Soy Sauce Chicken

1 tsp cooking oil

3 slices ginger

2 stalks green onions/scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 cup regular soy sauce

1 cup dark premium soy sauce

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp Shaoxing wine

2 tbsp rock sugar or white sugar

1 star anise pod or 5 star anise seeds

1/4 tsp five spice powder

4 pieces of chicken legs or thighs, skin-on and bone-in

peeled hard boiled eggs (optional)

Heat up cooking oil in a pot. Stir-fry ginger and green onions/scallions for 2 minutes or until fragrant. 

Add regular soy sauce, dark premium soy sauce, water, Shaoxing wine, sugar, star anise and 5-spice powder. Bring to a boil for 3 minutes.

Add chicken pieces and bring back up to a boil for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to a low simmer with lid on but propped up slightly for steam to escape. Cook on low simmer for 1 hour. Turn the chicken every 15 minutes if not completely submerged in the liquid.

Set chicken aside on serving platter. Strain braising sauce and discard the solids. 

*Optional: Marinate hard boiled eggs in the braising sauce to make soy sauce eggs! Just let the eggs sit in the sauce overnight in the fridge.

Pour braising sauce into a freezer safe container, leaving 1 1/2 inch of space from the top of the container. Let cool and store in freezer for next time. The flavor and viscosity of the sauce will improve with each use. Just add more soy sauce and water (2:1 ratio) if the liquid reduces too much over time.

There will be a layer of fat floating on top of the sauce. That will form an air-tight seal and protect the sauce from freezer burn. You can scrap it off before reheating next time.

Cool Tip #1

Note: This post is technically not food-related, but I did utilize my kitchen...

Does anyone remember a heat wave in which the temperature at night is just as high as during the day? Two nights ago, I walked outside at around 9pm and it was still sweltering hot. I couldn't believe my eyes when I checked my weather app. It was 90 degrees F nearly 2 hours after the sun had set.

That's also when I had this epiphany which I will share with you. 

1. I put an old cotton sundress in a large plastic food container and stuck it in the fridge. 
2. The next day, I came home from work and changed into my nice chilled dress.  

Ahhhh... It only lasted about 15 seconds, but the instant relief helped alleviate the ickiness of walking into my apartment that had been baking all day long. 

Yes, the freezer would have obviously provide quicker results, but mine is full of frozen homemade stock. 

I'm ready for winter (okay, San Diego "winter") so that I can enjoy some homemade ramen.

Stay cool, San Diego! Stay cool...

Shrimp & Roe Wonton

Shrimp & Fish Roe Wonton

Shrimp & Fish Roe Wonton Noodle Soup

The fish roe adds a savory sweetness to the wontons.

Shrimp & Fish Roe Wonton

24 large shrimps

3 tbsp baking soda

ice water, enough to cover shrimp

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 stalk green onions, finely minced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp cornstarch

wonton wrappers

4 tbsp tobiko (flying fish roe)

1 egg white

Shell and devein the shrimp.  Mix baking soda into ice water.  Soak shrimp in ice water solution for 15 min.

Drain shrimp.  Rinse. Drain shrimp again.

Mix garlic, ginger, green onion, soy sauce, sesame oil white pepper and cornstarch together in a large bowl.  Toss the shrimp into the mixture.  Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Cover unused wonton wrappers with a damp towel while you are working to prevent them from drying out.

Brush egg white on one side of a wonton wrapper. Place 1 shrimp and a pea-sized amount of tobiko in the middle of the egg washed side of the wonton wrapper.  Fold one corner to the opposite corner to form a triangle, carefully pressing out the air before you completely seal the wonton.  If you want, you can also  bring the other two corners together to make a bishop's hat shape.

Unused wrappers can be frozen for future use.

To freeze:

Place wontons on baking sheet, make sure they do not touch.  Freeze for at least 4 hours before placing in a freezer bag or container. Cook from frozen, do not thaw.

To cook:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Add wontons one at a time, making sure that water stays boiling.  Stir and let cook for about 5 min.  Remove from water with a slotted spoon.