I believe that there are a lot of friends have tried to steam the chicken, but always do not do the effect of the restaurant, usually will be: water dripping, not fragrant, not smooth. In fact, the devil hides in the details. As long as you analyze the influencing factors, and then break down the correspondence, at home can also do a good steamed chicken. The following red onion head steamed chicken as a starting point, analyze in detail, how to do a good job of Cantonese steamed chicken.
Materials:
Walking chicken half, red onion head 10-12 heads, ginger slices, a small amount of freshly ground pepper, peanut oil, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt, sugar (dosage see chart).
(1) Chicken should be selected from well-fleshed walk-in chicken items (small hens) with thin and tender meat suitable for steaming, and freshly subdivided ones are best. Try to steam with chicken miscellaneous, the flavor is more intense, excellent flavor, but the chicken intestines can not be wanted, the steam time is too long will be overcooked.
(2) The amount of red onion can be adjusted, but as the main flavor spice, not too little. I didn't ask for the wine, for fear that it would still have a flavor after steaming. If it is a chilled or frozen chicken, you can properly put a few drops, but never more. Soy sauce must be less or not put, more into soy sauce steamed chicken flavor, color is also dark, not interesting.
(3) Green pepper rings can be added to add the appropriate spicy flavor and garnish. Scallions can also be put a little last, but I do not have them at home today.
(4) The best oil to use is peanut oil because it is fragrant and odorless and has enough viscosity. If you don't have it, just use an oil that doesn't have an odor. Many recipes use sesame oil, but in reality most families arrive with sesame oil, the flavor is not too pure, may instead have the opposite effect, avoid forget it.
Part 1: the treatment of red onion.
1. Use red onion rather than dried onion. Red onion pungent flavor strong, dry onion partial sweet and soft, replace each other is not impossible, but that effect is really not the same.
2, red onion directly steamed, can correct the flavor of chicken. Or fried scallion oil processing, then the foreign flavor can be attractive. It is two flavors that work best when used together.
3, red onion peeled and washed (with mud), knife lightly pressed or patted. Three-fifths sliced diagonally to retain freshness. Two-fifths straight cut thick slices, used to fry onion oil.
4, red onion slices of low-fire frying onion oil, aroma can be, oil and green onion separate standby. Do not need to fry too burnt, fried onion slices and used to steam chicken. Personal taste, like to fry the older can also be.
Part 2: Chicken handling.
1, chopped pieces, the thickness should be thin, conducive to fast cooking, the size as uniform as possible. Chicken gizzard cut flower processing, chicken liver sliced, raw intestine cut into sections. (Prepare for fast steaming)
2, add salt, soy sauce, freshly ground pepper, sliced raw red onion, ginger, mix well and marinate for 15 minutes. A short time for a freshly killed chicken, or into a steamer as soon as it is fished is fine. If it is chilled chicken, marinate for a longer time, half an hour to an hour, for flavor. (This is the treatment of flavor)
3, marinating time enough, add cornstarch (water starch is better) and fried onion oil, mix well, you can enter the steam link. If too dry can add a little water. (This is the key to the tenderness of the texture)
Part 3: The details of steaming chicken of steaming.
1, the use of metal thin skin dish, conducive to fast cooking heat conduction and the top and bottom of the heat evenly. To a large area, because the chicken only lay a layer. To flat bottom, steamed juice will not gather in the middle of the dish, rain unevenly. Many friends, the two regions like to use stainless steel utensils have micro-aggression, but for the Cantonese cuisine of the steam, the matter of fighting for time is significant.
2, chicken pieces only one layer. Push the chicken pieces to lay flat on the plate, making sure that there is only one piece of chicken in each position, and that there are no large sticking. Because the steaming time is short, if there is stacking or large sticking, it will be partially undercooked. So the plate must be large, otherwise you'd rather have a smaller amount of chicken.
3. Sprinkle the fried sliced green onions, evenly over the surface of the chicken.
4, a little more water in the pot, always use the maximum heat. After the water rolls, put in the dish chicken, cover the pot with a lid, and steam over high heat for 6-7 minutes. If the fire is big, it will be 6 minutes, if the fire is small, it will be 7 minutes. If you're afraid of undercooking, steam for 8 minutes, any longer and you'll be overcooked and waterlogged. The steaming time is based on a few factors; (1) metal dish, (2) thinly chopped chicken pieces, and (3) only one layer. If these points are not met, extend the time appropriately.
5, out of the oven can be appropriate to sprinkle a few chopped green onion garnish.
This dish is best eaten hot, plus stainless steel plate is easy to cold, a few minutes on the flavor is greatly reduced. It is better to serve chopsticks on the table as soon as it comes out of the oven. I'm going to start with a piece of skin-on boneless to try it out
This is a great way to get the most out of your meal.