盐焗鸡 Yan ju spiced shredded chicken is a humble, delicious Chinese dish. It only requires 3 seasoning ingredients, and is very simple to make. The chicken is fall off the bone tender, juicy and loaded with flavours.
It has a distinct earthy taste thanks to the sand ginger powder. Yan ju chicken is very versatile, it goes well with steamed rice, noodles, scallions pancakes, and even naan bread.
It is true that you can easily find packaged Yan ju seasoning at Chinese grocery stores, but those products usually contain artificial flavours and MSG. You don’t really need those to make delicious food!
Ingredients (serves 1-2)
- 1 chicken quarter (~400g)
- 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
- 1/2 to 1 tsp sand ginger powder
- salt to taste
Instructions:
- Rinse clean and pat dry chicken (the drier, the better). Rub seasoning all over the chicken, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge overnight.
- Place chicken in the programmable rice cooker, skin side down. Close the lid, run regular rice cooking mode twice, or regular rice cooking + quick cooking mode. The chicken should be fork tender then.
- Slightly let cool, then shred the chicken with hands. Mix chicken with remaining juice in the rice cooker, and serve.
Garnish the dish with roasted white sesame seeds and scallion. Drizzle with sesame oil, if you want to add extra flavours. This Yan Ju shredded chicken can be served warm or cold.
Simple ingredients, amazing taste.
