Steamed dishes are very popular in Vietnamese cuisine due to their simplicity, ease of preparation, and the ability to retain the natural sweetness and flavor of the ingredients. Today, let’s join TasteVN in the kitchen to learn 2 simple, delicious, and irresistible steamed chicken dishes: bok choy steamed chicken and garlic steamed chicken to treat your family!
1. Bok Choy Steamed Chicken
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Preparation
40 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Bok Choy Steamed Chicken For 4 people
Chicken thigh meat 400 gr Bok choy 300 gr Tapioca starch 1 tablespoon Minced garlic 1 tablespoon Small ginger 1 piece (sliced) Sugar 1 teaspoon Seasoning powder 1/2 teaspoon Oyster sauce 1 teaspoon Salt 1.5 teaspoons Cooking oil 1 tablespoon
How to choose fresh, delicious bok choy:
- Choose bok choy with vibrant green color, smooth leaves, without bruises or dark spots, rotten areas, and the leaves should not be wilted or yellowing.
- Good bok choy usually has thick, firm stalks, with the base swelling out, feeling heavy in hand.
- It’s best to go to the market or supermarket early to select fresh and green bok choy.
How to Make Steamed Chicken with Bok Choy
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Prepare the Ingredients
Wash the chicken thoroughly, then rub salt and vinegar all over the chicken, rinse with clean water and let it drain, then cut into bite-sized pieces.
After buying bok choy, cut off the stem, remove the old leaves, then separate the bok choy into individual leaves, soak in diluted salt water, then rinse thoroughly, let drain and trim some of the bok choy leaves with a knife.
Tip:
- The trimmed bok choy leaves can be used to make soup.
- In addition to bok choy, you can use other greens like mustard greens, cabbage stalks, etc.
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Steam the Chicken and Blanch the Bok Choy
After the chicken has drained, add 1 teaspoon of salt and all the sliced ginger. Mix well and let the chicken marinate for about 15 minutes.
Add 400ml of water to the steamer, place the chicken in the pot and steam for about 15 minutes over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through.
After about 15 minutes, open the steamer lid and let the chicken cool.
Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.
Once the water is boiling, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the pot and stir well. Add the bok choy and blanch for about 1 minute, then remove and immediately place in a bowl of cold water.
Tip:
- To keep the bok choy vibrant green, you should add a little salt to the blanching water.
- Additionally, after boiling, you should soak the vegetables in cold water immediately to keep them crisp and green.
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Steaming chicken with bok choy
Prepare a large plate, then spread the bok choy evenly across the plate and place the chicken on top. Keep the chicken steaming liquid and set aside.
Place the plate of chicken and bok choy into the pot, cover with a lid, and steam for another 5 minutes on high heat for the chicken to become tender.
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Making the sauce
The chicken steaming liquid you prepared earlier should be strained to remove any residue.
Place a pan on the stove and add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Once the oil is hot, add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic to sauté until fragrant.
When the garlic is aromatic, pour the chicken steaming liquid into the pan, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, and bring to a boil.
Next, dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in water and gradually add it to the sauce pan, stirring continuously until the sauce reaches the desired thickness, then turn off the heat.
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Final product
The steamed chicken with bok choy, once completed, has an attractive color. The chicken meat is tender, fragrant, and retains its natural sweetness, combined with the crispy and delicious bok choy, providing a balanced taste. This dish can be served as a main course for family meals or to treat friends at parties and gatherings, making it quite suitable!
2. Steamed Chicken with Garlic
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Preparation time
40 minutes
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Difficulty level
Easy
Ingredients for Steamed Chicken with Garlic Serves 4
Chicken 1.5 kg (large) Bird’s eye chili 6 pieces Bell pepper 1 piece Green onion tops 10 gr Garlic 50 gr Red onion 2 bulbs Table salt 1/2 tablespoon Rock salt 3 tablespoons Monosodium glutamate 1/2 tablespoon Seasoning powder 1/2 tablespoon Granulated sugar 1 tablespoon Fish sauce 2 tablespoons Shrimp paste 1.5 tablespoons
Ingredient images:
How to make Steamed Chicken with Garlic
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Prepare the ingredients
For the chicken, to save time you should ask the seller to pluck the feathers for you. After buying, use salt or lime to rub all over the chicken, then rinse the chicken with clean water and let it drain.
Crush 20gr of peppercorns in a mortar.
Smashed red onion, finely chopped.
1/3 of the garlic should be crushed and finely chopped. The remaining garlic should be left whole.
Take 1 bell pepper, finely chopped, and leave the other one whole.
2 bird’s eye chilies, finely chopped. Leave the other 4 whole.
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Prepare the sauce and marinate the chicken
To prepare the marinade for the chicken, add crushed pepper, chili, minced onion, and garlic into a bowl, along with 1/2 tablespoon of salt, 1/2 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate, 1/2 tablespoon of seasoning powder, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, and 1.5 tablespoons of shrimp paste. Mix well to combine the seasonings.
Place the chicken on a large plate, then evenly pour the prepared sauce over the chicken.
Put on gloves and massage the inside and outside of the chicken to ensure the seasoning is evenly distributed. Next, place the whole garlic cloves inside the chicken’s cavity, and let the chicken marinate for about 20 more minutes to absorb the flavors.
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Steamed Chicken
Place a steamer pot on the stove, add 1.5 liters of filtered water, then arrange the chicken in the pot and steam for about 35 – 40 minutes until the chicken is tender.
After steaming for about 35 minutes, add whole bird’s eye chilies and the green onion tops, and steam for an additional 2 minutes to finish.
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Completion
Remove the chicken from the pot, let it cool for about 10 minutes, then tear the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
To make the chili salt for dipping the chicken, add 3 tablespoons of coarse salt and 20g of minced chili into a bowl, then use a pestle to grind the ingredients until fine.
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Final Product
The garlic steamed chicken after completion has an enticing aroma. The chicken meat is tender, fragrant with garlic and retains its natural sweetness. When eating, you should dip it in a bowl of chili salt; it ensures that the dish will be much more delicious and flavorful.
How to choose fresh and delicious chicken
For live chicken
- Choose chickens with bright red combs, shiny feathers, pink anus, and no unusual secretions.
- The chicken legs should be slender, uniformly yellow, not wrinkled, and the crop should not be tight, indicating the chicken is healthy.
- Lift the feathers to see thin, soft skin; when lightly pressed, the chicken should feel firm, not flabby, with some large yellow streaks under the breast and wings. Under the wings, you can see the meat, and blood vessels indicate the chicken is firm and not fatty.
For processed chicken
- Choose chicken meat that looks fresh, has no foul or strange odor, and the skin is not bruised or has blood clots; avoid darkened chickens as they are likely dead before processing.
- To avoid buying water-injected chicken, press on the suspected areas (mainly thighs and breasts) to check; if it feels mushy, slippery, or deformed, do not buy.
- If the chicken skin is yellow and the internal fat is white, it is definitely dyed and should not be purchased.
- If you want to choose delicious native chicken, select pieces with light yellow skin, thin, smooth, high elasticity, and darker yellow in certain areas like the breast, wings, back, and a compact, firm body with a narrow breast.
- For frozen chicken in supermarkets, check the reputable origin and expiration date on the packaging to ensure quality.
How to prepare clean, odor-free chicken
- To prevent the chicken from smelling, you need to remove all the feathers, including fine down feathers, to keep the chicken white, clean, and less smelly.
- Mix vinegar and salt in a ratio of 2 salt to 1 vinegar, then apply it all over the chicken, rubbing multiple times, then rinse thoroughly with clean water or rub lemon and salt on the chicken skin or use a little ginger and white wine to rub on the chicken to eliminate the odor.
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Steamed bok choy chicken and garlic chicken are simply delicious and easy to make, right? Wishing you success!
*Refer to images and recipes from 2 YouTube channels What to Eat? and Easily Made Delicious Dishes
