Red Cooked (Soy Cooked) Chicken Breast

I’m always looking for a quick way to prepare chicken, sometimes for a mid week meal, sometimes for Shabbat either as a starter or a main. This is a very simple but deeply flavorful way to prepare chicken giving you the option of serving it hot or cold. I particularly like to leave it to marinate (after cooking) in the cooking liquid in the fridge, thereby giving it a deep reddish brown color and permeating the chicken with incredible tastiness. This style of cooking is Chinese in origin but well within the purview of any cook in it’s simplicity. So gather your ingredients and let’s get started.

Make sure you take a wide pot with a lid for the cooking, you will be cooking the chicken for 15-20 minutes just till cooked through, since you are using boneless, skinless chicken breasts and you don’t want to overcook them. Depending on the thickness of the chicken breast, you will add or subtract cooking time. For really thin (finely pounded) breasts, cook them 12-15 minutes, thicker for longer. You get the idea.

Okay. Easier than this it doesn’t get. You put into your pot the garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, star anise (WARNING, this is a traditional spice in the mixture however it has a taste of licorice or fennel. Some people really don’t care for the flavor. Although it’s cheating, I say just don’t add it if you aren’t into the flavor. The chicken will still be awesome!) lemon juice and the water. Bring the ingredients to the boil and lower to a simmer.

Now take your chicken breasts and lower into the simmering liquid, gently.

No splashing! Easy does it. Okay, now place the lid on the pot of chicken and let simmer on low for the amount of time described above, depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts. Btw, if you want to use large, thick chicken breasts, you certainly can, adjust the cooking time to about 20-25 minutes. Now take a piece out and slice to check if fully cooked through. If so, remove from heat, uncover and either let cool in liquid and refrigerate in liquid till chilled OR serve hot over cooked rice Simple Basic White Rice. The rice, btw, is easy to cook at the same time as the chicken. It’s about 18 minutes for the rice, so it times well together. If serving chilled, this is lovely over shredded lettuce and some cherry tomatoes. A note, the cooking liquid can be reused to cook this type of chicken. Store it in the freezer till ready to reuse and top up with a bit more soy sauce and spices.

I serve this either as a nice light appetizer (over lettuce) or as a main with rice and cooked veggies like broccoli. Delish!

Red Cooked (Soy Cooked) Chicken Breast

6 to 8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Two cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons ginger, crushed

2 tablespoons heaped brown sugar

1 cup (240 ml) soy sauce

1 star anise (fair warning, this has a licorice like taste. Although traditional in the recipe, if you don’t like that flavor, you can omit it)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cups (480 ml) water

Directions:

Place the garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, star anise, lemon juice and water in a wide pot with a lid. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Carefully lower the chicken in the simmering liquid for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how thin the breasts are, covering the pot. If using a large chicken breast it may need 20-25 minutes. Remove from fire and remove cover and let chicken sit in the liquid an additional five minutes. Remove chicken from liquid, and if serving hot, slice on the diagonal and serve over rice. If serving chilled or room temperature, place in container with the cooking liquid and store in fridge, up to 2 days. Cut the chicken into slices and serve oveer a chopped lettuce salad. You can store the cooking liquid in your freezer for future preparation of this type of chicken, adding a bit more soy sauce to top it off and spices if desired.