Emperor Chicken — Buk Jum Gai

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 Emperor chicken, whole
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• 2 tsp shan nai ginger spice (sa geung fun)
• 2 tsp rice wine
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Poaching liquid

• 3 litres water
• 1½ tsp salt
• 5 slices fresh root ginger

Steps

1. Rub the salt, sugar, shan nai ginger spice, rice wine, and black pepper all over the chicken, inside and out, and let marinate.
2. In a large pot, combine the water with the salt and ginger slices. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes.
3. Place the whole marinated chicken into the hot liquid. Poach on low heat for about 30 minutes, turning the chicken over halfway through so it cooks evenly, inside and out.
4. Remove the chicken and run it under cold tap water for a few minutes, or place it in a basin of ice water, to firm up the skin.
5. Rub the chicken with a small teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of rice wine. Let it cool, then chop Chinese-style with a cleaver.
6. Serve with fresh coriander and a ginger scallion dipping sauce.