Under $10, Under 20 Minutes, Microwave Soy Sauce Chicken

Introduction:

This is one of my mother's recipes which combines some traditional Chinese food with the convenience of a microwave. I was skeptical of microwave cooking (I'm a big texture person) but the results are fantastic! The best part is you have an entire cooked chicken in under 20 minutes with no prep or marinading required.

Read on for instructions and pics.

What You Need:

-glass or corningware container that holds the chicken (fairly snugly)
-whole chicken (I've only tried smaller birds so far)
-soy sauce
-sugar
-chinese rice cooking wine (available in the ethnic grocery area)
-microwave

Instructions:

1. Begin with a whole chicken, defrosted (preferably close to room temperature)

2. Bring a pot of water to boil, slowly pour over the chicken in the sink. This helps firm up the skin and removes any gamey flavor. A couple litres is fine.

3. In your corningware, combine ingredients:
1 Cup - Chinese cooking wine
1 Cup - Sugar
1 Cup - Soy sauce

4. Stir this up (sugar won't fully dissolve but that's ok, it will during the cooking process)

5. Add chicken (doens't matter which side up). Add a bit of water or more soy sauce if the chicken is barely covered. Aim for about 1/2 covered. Place lid on container (make sure your lid has no metal in it, I had to use a plate instead.

6. Microwave approx ~9 minutes on high. Time will vary for size of chicken and microwave wattage.

7. Flip the bird!

8. Microwave another ~9 minutes on high. Poke the thickest part of the chicken near legs with a chopstick. If it runs clear you're done! Cooking time will vary based on the size of the chicken, whether it was straight from the fridge, microwave power, etc. Expect anywhere from 18-24 minutes.

9. Remove chicken from liquid. Let the chicken cool and drain for 10 minutes before chopping.

10. After chicken is plated, drizzle some of the leftover liquid to add some moisture and taste.

Enjoy! Click on photo album below to see how mine turned out.

Leave a comment with your results or any tweaks you've tried! =)