Sunday, October 12, 2008

Salt Steamed Chicken/Yeem Kook Kai

Marinate Chicken with sea salt, ginger juice, shaoxing wine, pepper, a pinch of five spice powder.
Cut greaseproof paper into 10 " x 10" squares, use 2 layers for a piece of chicken, grease paper with a little oil. Place chicken in the center of paper
Wrap chicken up by letting 2 opposite corners to meet, then fold down in small folds, now let the other 2 corners meet and fold down. Tap up the open seam. Use a large bowl and layer the bowl with newspapers, push papers down to form a bowl, Fill 1/3 of 3 lb natural sea salt/coarse salt. Lay the chicken parcels on top of salt.
fill the top with the rest of the salt. Make sure the parcel are snuggled inbetween the salt. Cover the bowl with more newspapers and then overturn the bowl onto the countertop.
Fold the newspapers up to form a huge parcel and use tape to stick the newspaper in place
Put in the microwave and cook on 70% or medium level for 20 - 22 minuts. Remove parcel from microwave and let it sit for 10 minutes. Remove the tapes and tear open the parcel, be cautious as the chicken parcels and salt might be hot
Brush away the salt from the chicken parcel before opening the chicken packet.
Chicken is ready to be served, hot or cold. Enjoy


I have been wanting to try this Salt Steamed Chicken for a long time and the idea of getting 10 lbs of salt to cook the chicken puts me off, the salt costs more than the chicken. Yes, you will need this huge amount of salt for the whole chicken. So, I am being practical and instead of cooking the whole chicken, i use only chicken thighs only, the chicken has to be cut into pieces later anyway. Chicken pieces cook faster than the whole chicken, another thumb up for saving time and energy.
The conventional way of cooking this chicken is:
A large wok is required to hold the chicken and the salt.
The salt is wok fried until very very hot before you bury the chicken parcel, cover and cook until the chicken is cooked.
Marinates:
Play with your food, that is what my dear friend tt would say. Use whatever but not too strong a flavor as it might be too overpowering.
I like to add a very tiny piece of Dang Quai under the skin of the chicken pieces.

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