This Guangxi-Style Steamed Chicken with Chives is a healthy dish with a deliciously savory and aromatic chive sauce that goes perfectly with rice! This dish is popular in the Guangxi region of southern China, bordering Vietnam, and the steps are so simple with just 10 minutes of prep time, after which you’re just waiting for the chicken to steam before digging in! Chive lovers will absolutely devour this dish!
The chicken is marinated with a combination of Shaoxing wine, salt, and chopped spring onions. This marinade infuses the chicken with a subtle richness and a hint of freshness. Then the chicken is gently steamed to bring out the flavors.
The dressing for Guangxi-style steamed chicken with chives is where the true magic happens, and is what makes this dish so flavorful. It’s a simple medley of Chinese chives, ginger, cooking oil, light soy sauce, and sesame oil.
Chinese chives, with their mild onion flavor, add a refreshing crispness to the dish. Ginger brings its unique zing, enhancing both the taste and aroma. When heated until smoking, the cooking oil sizzles as it’s poured over the chives and ginger, creating a tantalizing sizzle that releases the full potential of these aromatics. The light soy sauce contributes a savory, umami depth, while sesame oil provides a nutty, almost sweet note.
Once the chicken is done steaming, just pour the chive dressing over the chicken and eat it while it’s hot! Any extra dressing can be poured over steamed rice too, transforming a simple staple into a delectable side dish! This Guangxi-Style Steamed Chicken with Chives is so easy to make, yet so satisfying and healthy, that it is on my regular rotation for me to whip it out whenever I’m running late for dinner. So let’s get to it!
Watch How To Make It
Guangxi-Style Steamed Chicken with Chives
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 spring onions (white part) sliced
Dressing
- 50 g Chinese chives diced
- 1/2 thumb ginger diced
- 4 tbsp hot cooking oil
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- Some toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Marinade the chicken and steam it over medium-high heat for 25 minutes.
- Make the dressing by placing the Chinese chives and ginger into a bowl. Pour hot cooking oil over them. Add light soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds, then mix it all together.Pro Tip: Heat the oil on a pan over high heat until it smokes before pouring over the chives and ginger. This will sizzle the aromatics.
- Once the chicken are done, pour the dressing over the chicken and serve!Pro Tip: You can pour any extra dressing over steamed rice too!