So I’ve been obsessing with the steamed chicken from Tim Ho Wan recently. I think I’ve ordered it thrice in a week and while the food is nutritious on its own, it’s not healthy for my wallet. 🥲
Good news though, it’s not that hard to make at home! After scouring the recipes online, I adapted a few that I found and went full steam ahead (pun intended) with my own version of Steamed Chicken with Jujubes and Cordyceps Flowers.
What I made
Chicken, Cordyceps Flower and Mushroom – ah, even just typing it up makes my mouth water – is a Chinese dish that’s often served here in Singapore. There’s plenty of variations to the “steamed chicken with rice” dish, one of them, Hainanese Chicken Rice, is sold at almost all the kopitiams and hawker centers in the island.
Apart from the steamed version, there are claypot chicken dishes that are equally tasty too. Maybe I’ll try Claypot Chicken with Mushrooms in the future, once I get my own claypot.
Back to my current obsession – I don’t recall why I ordered the dish specifically. I think I was trying to find a dish that wasn’t too greasy and can still tide me over until dinner. This was perfect as it has meat, and most importantly, rice, in it. I’m the stereotypical Asian and rice is life to me.
Can you just imagine soft, fluffy rice that’s subtly flavored with the chicken, soy sauce, and herbs? It’s perfect and I’m getting really hungry now.
What’s In It
Cordyceps Flower (蟲草, “Bug Grass”)
Not to be confused with cordyceps sinensis, cordyceps militaris is a type of mushroom grown for several health benefits. It’s used in traditional Chinese medicine to improve the immune system, increase the Qi (energy), reduce fatigue, and many other functions.
It is bright, yellow orange in color and typically added to soups, teas, and steamed dishes.
Jujube or Chinese Red Dates
The jujube fruit is a superfood that’s rich in antioxidants. It’s reported to be used for its antibacterial, anti-ulcer, and anti-inflammatory properties. On top of that, it’s a natural remedy for insomnia and anxiety.
What I did
I chose to use boneless chicken legs to make it easier to prepare. Most of the recipes online use fresh, whole chicken, but I don’t have the proper tools to cut the chicken to serving size or debone it. Aside from convenience, I also wanted to cook a small batch since there’s only 2 of us in the house.
For the mushrooms, since I’m using dried shiitake, I soaked a handful in warm water before squeezing them dry and slicing them. If you’re using fresh mushrooms, you can skip the soaking and cut immediately.
For the jujubes, I split each in the middle and removed the pits. I then rinse them in running water and set aside. I did the same for the cordyceps flowers. The ones that I bought had some woody ends, which I cut off before rinsing and setting them aside.
I prepped the chicken the night before because I had to work on the garden the following morning. I put the chicken with the marinade in a glass container in the fridge overnight. If you’re cooking this recipe normally, the chicken will be marinated for about 30 minutes. I set aside some cordyceps flowers to be used as garnished later on while I added the flowers, jujubes, and the rest of the ingredients to the chicken just before steaming.
I used a wok (about 30cm big) with a cover to steam the chicken. I placed the chicken and stuff on a plate, taking care not to overlap the pieces, and then set the plate on top of an overturned muffin mold. It’s very DIY but I don’t have a standalone steamer.
Notes I Took
1. Boneless Legs/Thighs
I don’t recommend using chicken breast exclusively for this recipe because it may come out dry and would lose the umami taste from the chicken fat. Some recipes use chicken wings, but I’m not a big fan of wings (too little meat) so I’ll try this with boneless leg or thighs next time.
2. Chinese Sausage
I think some cut lap cheong or chorizo de bilbao or Chinese sausage will make a great and tasty addition to the recipe.
3. Japanese Cooking Sake
I don’t usually stock up on Shaoxing wine but I do have cooking sake most of the time. While the recipe calls for Shaoxing or Chinese cooking wine, using cooking sake wasn’t too bad.
4. Neutral Oil
I used sesame oil when I cooked this dish because I love the smell and flavor of sesame oil. However, it doesn’t hurt to use whatever available oil in your kitchen as long as the taste is somewhat neutral. I don’t think olive oil will taste good though, and it doesn’t seem to match the regional theme of the other ingredients.
5. Soy Sauce
I realized belatedly that the steam will add more water to the sauce and it sort of diluted the taste. It wasn’t bad, the taste was subtle and somehow “healthy” if that makes sense, but I was used to the Tim Ho Wan version that had a more pronounced soy sauce taste.
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