Tag Archives: scallion

Ginger Scallion Chicken

This one is hardly a recipe in that ginger scallion sauce does all the heavy lifting.  As much as I feel that recipes within recipes can be daunting (I’m talking to you, Thomas Keller), the actual ginger scallion sauce is so simple that you’ll barely feel like you are tacking on extra steps.

My first dance with the glory of ginger scallion chicken was at my favorite haunt for Chinese food in the DC Metro area, XO Taste.  Prepared the traditional way with a whole poached chicken accompanied by small dishes of the spicy, complex ginger sauce, I was in love.  Not with the chicken so much as the sauce, which I wanted to drink by the canteen full if possible.  When I set out to make this recipe for myself, I tried to amp up the chicken a bit to include all of my favorite elements.  Rather than poach and serve with loose, rubbery skin, I decided to sear the skin on bone-in chicken breasts and then finish them off in the oven.  The result is crisp, crackly skin protecting moist, white meat chicken, all of which is adorned with ginger scallion saucy glory.  Victory is mine, and can be yours as well with a few easy steps. Continue reading Ginger Scallion Chicken

Ginger Scallion Sauce

Seriously, ginger scallion sauce, just stop.  You have definitively rocked my socks.  And all to the point that I say bad words when I see you.  You. are. greatness.  When Escoffier sang the praises of his transcribed mother sauces, he missed the mark with you.  If bechamel and hollandaise and and velouté rule the roost, you built the roost from ashes and sheer will.

It’s no secret that I’ve always been enamored with ginger, but this sauce paints it in the finest of lights.  Grated ginger and minced scallion are barely cooked in hot oil, taking away all of the bite from the aromatics and leaving behind a condiment that can make the most stubborn palate sing.  This sauce is BFFs with poached chicken as the dynamic duo, “Ginger Scallion Chicken”.  I don’t limit the stuff, though – string beans, skirt steak, steamed fish, my fingertips.  I’ll attack this sauce with calculating ruthlessness.  It’s mine, and I don’t want to share.  Ok, I’ll share, but you bring the ginger and scallions next time.

This sauce isn’t hard to make, but it’ll seem a little scary the first time you make it – don’t fret.  You’ve got this.  When you add hot oil to wet ginger, you’re gonna get a bit of sizzle.  This subsides quickly, and if you make this expecting a science-fair baking soda volcano, you’ll be underwhelmed rather than shocked.  This is a good thing.  Just make sure to use a heat-proof bowl or 1-qt saucepan for the ginger-oil reunion and you’ll be golden. Continue reading Ginger Scallion Sauce