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Forget boring chicken. This Hong Kong Soy Sauce Chicken is glossy, juicy, and packed with flavor.
You know that glossy, dark, ridiculously flavorful Hong Kong Styled Soy Sauce Chicken you get at a good restaurant? The kind that’s so tender it almost melts when you bite into it. Yeah, this is that, but you’re making it at home. And trust me, it’s easier than it looks.
This chicken soaks up all the good stuff: soy sauce, warm spices, a little sweetness, and that deep, rich umami that makes you go back for just one more piece (and then another). The whole thing simmers in a pot of magic until it’s juicy, sticky, and packed with flavor.
And the best part? You don’t need anything fancy. Just a whole chicken, some soy sauce, a few spices, and a bit of patience.
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Hong Kong Styled Soy Sauce Chicken
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Resting Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings depending on size 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Easy
- Cuisine: Hong Kong
Description
This dish tells a story with every bite. A mix of history, culture, and pure deliciousness. If food could talk, what would your favorite dish say?
Ingredients
- 1 chicken
- 1 tbsp coarse salt
- 4 tbsp dark soy sauce, divided
- 1 cup light soy sauce
- 2 shallots or a small red onion
- 2-star anise
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2 spring onions
- 1 forefinger, sliced ginger
- 1 tsp 5-spice powder
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tbsp honey mixed with 1 tbsp water
- 3 cups water
- Oil
Instructions
- Pat it dry, rub it with salt, rinse, and dry it again. Then, slather on some dark soy sauce and let it sit for at least 60 minutes. This helps with color and flavor.
- Heat up a pot, throw in garlic, shallots/onion, ginger, cinnamon, and star anise, and let everything get nice and fragrant.
- Add water, both soy sauces, five-spice powder, sugar, and spring onions. Bring it to life with a good stir.
- Drop it in, lift it out, dunk it back, do this a few times so the inside gets seasoned, too.
- Then let it simmer (30 minutes), flipping now and then, and ladling the sauce over everything every 10 minutes, so every inch gets coated in that dark, savory sauce.
- Crank up the heat to thicken things up (10 minutes), then pull the chicken out and brush it with honey and Shaoxing. Let it rest (if you can wait), then carve it up.
- Serve it with rice, drizzle on some of that sauce, and get ready for compliments. Because honestly? This might be the best soy sauce chicken you’ve ever made.
What Makes It So Good?
- The marinade works its way into every bite, thanks to a simple dunking trick.
- A slow simmer lets all those flavors soak in while keeping the meat tender.
- That final brush of honey and Shaoxing wine? Pure gold. It gives the chicken that signature shine and just a hint of sweetness.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Created, prepared, tried, and tested by Melanie from SA Tasty Recipes, Saffas Daily Recipes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 162
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 3133.6 mg
- Fat: 4.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 19.6 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 12.9 g
- Cholesterol: 36.2 mg
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Esme, this sounds delicious! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party. I hope you will join us for the next party, which starts tomorrow. 🙂
Thanks for popping in Steph and yes I will be there for sure.
This sounds so delicious!
Another great chicken dish, this time a saucy one! Enjoy it
Def going to make this one (without the skin – boo hiss cholesterol) . That sounds delicious!
Hope you will enjoy it Lydia. Yes we mostly do chicken without skin as well.