Steaming is a very popular method of cooking in southern China. This is originally a Cantonese dish. The steaming gives the chicken a silky texture and produces a thin, flavourful sauce.

I chose to add a bit of baby Shanghai bok choy to give this dish some veg. I also opted to use tempeh instead of chicken. In all honesty, I think chicken probably would've been better, but it was still good with the tempeh, just not as good as I think it could have been.

To make up for not having the chicken, I swapped out the vegetable oil for schmaltz and added a bit of sweet paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. I also traded out the salt for bouillon powder. Additionally, I used way more sausages then the original recipe called for (but only about half as much tempeh).

The recipe calls for using a pie plate for the steaming. This worked okay, but my pie plate was very, very full. I think I'd probably try to steam it in a large glass bowl next time. (Or just make a half batch so that the pie plate isn't quite so overstuffed.)

Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage

Adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 10 dried shiitake (black Chinese) mushrooms
• 450g skinless, boneless chicken thighs (or tempeh), cut into chunks
• 1/3 c. water (or mushroom soaking water)
• 1 Tbsp. oil (or schmaltz)
• 1/4 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 1 Tbsp. (vegetarian) oyster sauce
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. chicken or vegetable bouillon powder
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 tsp. grated ginger (or 1 tsp. ginger paste)
• 1 scallion, chopped, white and green parts separated
• 1/4 tsp. sweet or smoked paprika (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce¹ (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. tapioca starch (or cornstarch/cornflour)
• 2-10 Chinese sausages², thinly sliced on bias
• 6-8 baby Shanghai bok choy, rinsed and chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Soak the mushrooms in hot water for at least two hours.
2. Drain, rinse, and thinly slice the mushrooms.
3. Combine chicken, sliced mushrooms, water, oil (or schmaltz), sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, sugar, bouillion powder, white pepper, ginger, and the white parts of the scallion and stir to combine.
4. Also add paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and soy sauce (if using).
5. Cover and chill for at least two hours or as long as overnight.
6. Add the tapioca starch (or cornstarch) and mix well.
7. Add water to your steamer/wok and bring to a rolling boil.
8. Transfer the chicken mixture to a pie plate or large heat-proof bowl.
9. Place the sliced sausages on top.
10. Place the bok choy on top of this (if using).
11. Place the bowl/pie plate in the steamer and steam over medium heat for 10 minutes.
12. Turn off the heat and leave the steamer to sit, covered, for another 2-3 minutes.
13. Sprinkle with the green parts of the scallion and serve over rice.

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¹ The original recipe didn't call for any soy sauce and I didn't use any. That said, upon tasting it, I felt like I probably would have benefitted from a small amount of soy sauce in the marinade. I'll try it this way next time and see how it comes out. ^Back
2 I know this is a huge range. The original recipe calls for 1-2 links but notes that sausage sizes can vary greatly. My sausages were extremely small. I also really like sausages. And I had less tempeh (my stand-in for chicken) than the recipe called for, so I figured I'd make it up with extra sausages. I liked my sausage-heavy version. I realize that this may not be true to the original recipe, but it was delicious! Go for more sausages if that's your jam or less if you'd like something a little more traditional. ^Back