Moist and soft chicken is the hero of Crystal Chicken with Shallot and Ginger Dressing. By boiling the chicken pieces after coating them with cornflour/corn starch and quickly cooling them down, you can get a mass of shining slippery chicken pieces.
The dish is served cold, which is perfect on a hot summer day.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 1 chicken breast (about 300g/0.7lb, note 1)
- 1 tbsp cooking sake
- ½ tsp salt
- Finely ground white pepper (optional)
- 2½ tbsp cornflour/corn starch
- Ice water in a bowl
- ½ cup shallots/scallions , finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger , very finely chopped or grated
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar, apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- ½ roasted white sesame seeds , grated
- Thin ribbons of cucumber (about 15cm/6" long, note 2)
- Blanched bok choy (I used 1 stalk per serving, 3)
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Cut the chicken breast in half lengthwise. Place a chicken piece on a cutting board lengthwise with the thinner end to the left (for a right hander).
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Starting from the left end of the chicken piece (for the right hander), position a knife perpendicular to the length of the meat and tilt it diagonally. Slice the chicken at an angle to 1cm/⅜” thick.
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When you are slicing the thickest and widest part of the chicken piece, position the knife with an angle against the direction of the meat instead of perpendicular to it so that you will be able to cut a smaller piece of chicken (note 4).
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Spread the chicken slices on the cutting board without overlapping, cover with a piece of baking paper, then gently pound the chicken to tenderise.
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Put the chicken pieces in a bowl, add sake and salt. Massage the chicken ensuring that every chicken piece is coated with the seasoning. Leave for 10 minutes.
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While marinating the chicken, prepare and mix all the ingredients of Shallot and Ginger Dressing.
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Pat dry chicken pieces with kitchen paper.
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Boil sufficient amount of water in a medium-size pot.
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Put cornflour on a plate, coat chicken pieces thoroughly with the cornflour, then gently drop the chicken pieces in one at a time. Do not overcrowd the pot with too many chicken pieces. I did it in few batches (note 5).
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Boil the chicken pieces for about 2 minutes. Do not mix or fiddle with the chicken pieces while boiling as the coating may come off.
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Using chopsticks or a sieve pick up the chicken pieces from the boiling water and transfer them to the ice water.
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Repeat steps 4 - 6 for the remaining chicken pieces.
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When the last batch is cooled down, drain the water using a sieve.
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Fold each cucumber ribbon in half and place it around the plate with the folded side outward. If using bok choy, make a circle on a plate with the bok choy stems by laying each of them in the same direction.
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Pile the chicken pieces in the centre, then pour the Shallot and Ginger Dressing over the chicken.
1. Instead of chicken breast, you can use chicken tenderloin. You will be surprised how tender and juicy the chicken pieces are.
2. I use a vegetable peeler to make cucumber ribbons. Trim the both ends. Run a peeler from one end to the other end straight down, pressing the blade of the peeler against the cucumber so that the thickness of the ribbon becomes consistent. If you don’t press the blade, you tend to finish peeling half-way.
When the cucumber becomes thin, place the cucumber on your palm after catching the end with the blade and move the peeler along the flesh, pressing the blade against the cucumber on your palm.
The quantity of cucumber ribbons you make is up to you. I used a long cucumber cut to 15cm/6" long ribbons.
3. I cut the end of the stem to remove most of the outer leaves. If the white part of the leaf is very wide, I halve the entire leaf vertically. I also halve or quarter the inner leaves attached to the stem.
After blanching the bok choy, quickly cool it down in cold water. Squeeze out as much water as possible when plating it.
4. If you don’t do this, you will end up with a very wide piece of chicken. Alternatively, slice large, wide pieces and cut them into smaller size pieces.
5. It is better to coat the chicken pieces with flour batch by batch immediately before boiling. If the cornflour is on the chicken for a while, it absorbs the moisture from the chicken and loses the crystal look when boiled.
6. The chicken can be kept in the fridge for a day but the coating loses the clarity and becomes a bit sticky and cloudy. The flavour will still be good.
7. Nutrition per serving. It does not include greens.
serving: 486g calories: 406kcal fat: 18g (28%) saturated fat: 2.8g (14%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 6.5g monounsaturated fat: 6.3g cholesterol: 110mg (37%) sodium: 1106mg (46%) potassium: 757mg (22%) carbohydrates: 21g (7%) dietary fibre: 3.5g (14%) sugar: 3.3g protein: 38g vitamin a: 1% vitamin c: 5.7% calcium: 13% iron: 19%