Cheap and Easy Chinese Soy Sauce Chicken

This cheap and easy dish consists of tender, melt-in-your mouth chicken wings cooked in soy sauce. The addition of ginger, cinnamon and star anise make this dish smell absolutely heavenly. Best of all it is an economical dish made in one pot with only 15 minutes prep time.

Course Dinner

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword Soy Sauce Chicken

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings people

Calories 451kcal

Author Scruff

Ingredients

1 tbs canola oil
30 gm ginger thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves flattened
1 cassia cinnamon stick (Note 1)
2 star anise
3/4 cup light soy sauce
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp shao xing cooking wine
2 cups water
70 gm brown sugar
1 kg chicken wings washed and jointed
steamed white rice and choy sum to serve (or any Asian green)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Fry the ginger, garlic, cinnamon and star anise for about one minute or until fragrant.
Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, cooking wine, water and sugar. Give everything a stir, then add the chicken.
Bring to the boil, then cook over low heat for 40 mins (Note 2). Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
About halfway through cooking flip the chicken pieces at the top of the pot to ensure they are evenly coloured.
Once cooked, remove the chicken and set aside. Strain the liquid, then check the flavour and adjust if required (Note 3).
Return the chicken to the pot and serve with steamed white rice and Asian greens.

Notes

Cassia cinnamon sticks are available from Asian supermarkets, and have a different flavour to ceylon cinnamon which is the type usually found in general supermarkets. Cassia cinnamon is what's used in dishes like pho, ceylon cinnamon is more commonly used for desserts.
Our recommended cooking time is 40 minutes, but anywhere between 30-50 minutes will be fine. The longer the cooking time the softer the meat.
If the sauce is too strong then dilute with water. If it's not strong enough, hard boil to reduce and concentrate the flavour. Add light soy sauce for more salt, and brown sugar for extra sweetness. If you prefer a thicker sauce, mix cornstarch with water then stir through the sauce, boiling until thickened.

Nutrition