I don't know why I haven't tried steaming chicken before. The meat turned out very tender and delicious. This could just be one of those 30-minute meals. I imagine that a slightly longer cook time would be needed for thicker cuts of chicken, such as the thighs. For this attempt, I used chicken drumsticks (1 lb 7 oz).
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs chicken parts
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp chili black bean sauce -or- 2 tbsp fermented black beans
Directions
0. Remove chicken from package and rinse with cold water. Place it in a heat-proof bowl that is large enough to accommodate the chicken. Pour boiling water on the chicken and blanch for 1 minute. Discard the water in the bowl.
1. To the chicken: add garlic, ginger, cornstarch, soy sauce, and chili black bean sauce. Mix thoroughly so that the chicken is coated with everything.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil, large enough to fit both a steamer basket and the heatproof bowl.
3. Cover the pot and steam chicken for 30 minutes, until the juice runs clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, or the meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F. Let rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
For this amount of meat and time, the thick part of the drumsticks measured between 175 F and 185 F (a bit overcooked, oops).
