We Are HKers - Yam's HK Kitchen - Tender Instant Pot Soy Sauce Chicken

Cook: Sharon Yam (@yamsandchips)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

Course: Main

Cuisine: Chinese

Difficulty: Easy

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I was a very picky eater as a kid. Every night, my mother would try all her might to coax me into finishing my dinner--or at least a small bowl of rice and vegetables. The only time I would gladly comply was when she made soy sauce chicken. The sauce rendered the rice so flavorful that I couldn’t resist it.

Soy sauce chicken is a favorite among many Hongkongers. Many families have their own way of making it. The traditional way of making this dish, however, can take a lot of labor and time.

I resorted to my trusty Instant Pot and managed to make this delicious dish in about half an hour.

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Main Ingredients

2 lbs drumsticks or chicken thighs
1 ½ cup light soy sauce
1 cup dark soy sauce
½ cup Shao Xing cooking wine
7 cups water
100g Chinese rock sugar or 1 cup brown sugar
A big chunk of ginger, sliced
4 stalks of scallions, chopped
2 star anise
1 tbsp oil

Method

Turn on your Instant Pot, pour oil in, and press the “Sauté” button.
Once the pot is hot, put in the ginger slices, followed by star anise and scallions.
Stir the ingredients, and let them heat up in the pot for about a minute.
Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rock sugar, and water. Stir.
Put the lid back on the Instant Pot. Cook the liquid under High Pressure for 5 minutes. You may use quick release when it is done.
Take off the lid, and put the chicken into the sauce.
Put the lid back on, and set the Instant Pot to High Pressure. Cook for 10 minutes. Let the Instant Pot release pressure naturally for about another 10 minutes.
Serve immediately over rice.

Tip: Save the soy sauce base! You may reuse it in the future by simply adding new slices of ginger, star anise, scallions, and a small amount of soy sauce and sugar!

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