This Steamed Ginger Chicken is a simple Chinese Style homecooked dish that’s easy to make and taste delicious with simple natural ingredients. It’s savoury, gingery and full of natural flavours and sweetness from the chicken and ginger.
It’s very warm, comforting and nutritious and you get to enjoy this Chinese Style Steamed Ginger Chicken dish in with only 15 minutes of effort and let steaming do the rest of the work. Everything comes together in about 40 minutes.
Steamed Ginger Chicken Video Tutorial:
What Chicken to use for this Steamed Ginger Chicken recipe?
Type of chicken: You can use any type of chicken. If you want the skin to have a golden yellow colour, you can use corn-fed chicken or village “kampung” chicken. Kampung chicken is a special breed of chicken available in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Chicken part: I like to use chicken thighs or whole chicken legs for this recipe as the chicken turns our tender, juicy and slightly springy. You can also use chicken breast. If you use chicken breast adjust the heat and steam time accordingly.
What type of Ginger to use for this Steamed Ginger Chicken recipe?
You can use old ginger or young ginger. For old ginger, you can try Bentong ginger. “Bentong ginger is a variety of ginger from Bentong, Pahang, Malaysia. It is known for its intense flavor, aromatic quality.”
What equipment can I use to steam the chicken?
I’m using a bamboo steamer basket, which you can easily find on Amazon.
You can also use other types of steam equipment. However, they tend to produce more water condensation and cause the steam water to drip onto the food. The water condensation usually isn’t much, but to prevent it, you can wrap the lid with a cloth.
What other recipes you may like:
If you like this Steamed Ginger Chicken, you may also want to check out my Steamed Salted Chicken. It’s another super simple recipe with natural ingredients and taste so delicious.
Ingredients 材料：
- 4 chicken thighs (+/- 900 grams) 4个鸡腿 +/- 900 克
Ginger paste 姜蓉：
- 60 grams ginger, blend into a paste 60 克姜，捣成糊状
- 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 茶匙盐
- pinch of sugar 少许糖
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil 2 汤匙食用油
Marinate for chicken 鸡肉腌料：
- 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 茶匙盐
Garnish 装饰：
- 1 tablespoon chopped spring onions 1汤匙葱花
Method:
Prep the chicken
- Wash the chicken thoroughly. Remove any red clots especially near the bone area of the chicken thigh.
- Season with salt and set aside.
Prep the ginger
- Blend the ginger into a fine paste. You can use a blender or a fine grater.
- Saute ginger with some oil in a pan until fragrant. It should only take 1-2 minutes or so.
Assemble and steam
- Place the chicken on a heat-proof plate, skin side up. Then spread the ginger paste evenly on top.
- Bring the water in the wok or steam pot to a boil. Place the chicken on the steam rack. Steam on high heat for 25 minutes or until cooked through. Garnish with spring onions. Serve warm.
Cooking tips:
- Clean the chicken thoroughly – Rinse with water and remove any red clots, especially near the bone area of the chicken thigh. This will reduce bad odor from the chicken. You can also add a splash of Shaoxing wine when you marinate the chicken to remove any bad odor.
- Marinate the chicken – You can marinate the chicken for 30 minutes to improve the flavour.
- Use low heat to sauté the ginger – Use low heat so that the ginger doesn’t burn. Sautéing the ginger will release the aroma from the ginger and make the dish more fragrant.
- Check water level – if you are new to steaming, you may check the water level midway to make sure that the steamer pot or wok does not run out of water.
You might enjoy these other recipes:
Print Recipe for Steamed Ginger Chicken:
Steamed Ginger Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs +/- 900 grams 4个鸡腿 +/- 900 克
Ginger paste 姜蓉：
- 60 grams ginger blend into a paste 60 克姜，捣成糊状
- 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 茶匙盐
- pinch of sugar 少许糖
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil 2 汤匙食用油
Marinate for chicken 鸡肉腌料：
- 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 茶匙盐
Garnish 装饰：:
- 1 tablespoon chopped spring onions 1汤匙葱花
Instructions
Prep the chicken
- Wash the chicken thoroughly. Remove any red clots especially near the bone area of the chicken thigh.
- Season with salt and set aside.
Prep the ginger
- Blend the ginger into a fine paste. You can use a blender or a fine grater.
- Saute ginger with some oil in a pan until fragrant. It should only take 1-2 minutes or so.
Assemble and steam
- Place the chicken on a heat-proof plate, skin side up. Then spread the ginger paste evenly on top.
- Bring the water in the wok or steam pot to a boil. Place the chicken on the steam rack. Steam on high heat for 25 minutes or until cooked through. Garnish with spring onions. Serve warm.
Notes
- Clean the chicken thoroughly – Rinse with water and remove any red clots, especially near the bone area of the chicken thigh. This will reduce bad odor from the chicken. You can also add a splash of Shaoxing wine when you marinate the chicken to remove any bad odor.
- Marinate the chicken – You can marinate the chicken for 30 minutes to improve the flavour.
- Use low heat to saute the ginger – Use low heat so that the ginger doesn’t burn. Sautéing the ginger will release the aroma from the ginger and make the dish more fragrant.
- Check water level – if you are new to steaming, you may check the water level midway to make sure that the steamer pot or wok does not run out of water.