I went to a friend’s house, and she served Emperor chicken soup, which I loved, so I asked for the recipe. She modified her grandma’s recipe. Another friend mentioned a prepared packet of Emperor chicken with herbal rub, and I found Seah’s herbal packet. I also added some extra herbs.

Fried rice is a popular Chinese dish found in many restaurants worldwide. A traditional recipe includes Chinese sausage, vegetables, eggs, day-old rice, and soy sauce. These ingredients are cooked quickly in a Chinese wok, allowing the characteristic flavours to develop. Using oil is essential in wok cooking; flavoring the oil enhances the dish. This simple fried rice recipe is a great way to learn good wok techniques.

Google: “Emperor’s Chicken, also known as Beggar’s Chicken, is a Chinese dish made by wrapping a whole chicken in mud or dough and slow-cooking it over fire. It started as a simple meal but became popular after an emperor enjoyed it, leading to fancier variations in the palace. Traditional Preparation: A whole chicken is cleaned, seasoned, and wrapped in lotus leaves. Then, it is covered in a thick layer of mud or dough and cooked over a fire for several hours until tender and flavourful.”

“Modern Adaptations: Emperor’s Chicken is made with various Chinese herbs like Dang Gui, Yu Zhu, red dates, and wolfberries. These herbs are put inside the chicken or in the wrap. The chicken is then steamed for a long time to let the flavours infuse. After unwrapping, the dish reveals tender and fragrant meat.”

Glad my idea of combining Herbal Emperor Chicken with extra herbs works well with leftover fried rice; recipe below. It’s flavourful, hearty and delicious. Let’s cook!!!

Ingredients

Herbal Emperor Chicken

1 whole fresh chicken size 16
12-14 pieces red dates
4-6 pieces yu zhu (angular Solomon’s seal roots)
6 Tbs Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine
1 1/2 Tbs goji berries
1 Tbs dried shrimps
1 Tbs sesame oil or vegetables oil
1/2 Tbs oyster sauce
1/2 Tbs light soya sauce, extra if needed
1 tsp chicken powder
salt
water

Fried rice vegetables with lup cheong

4 c cooked overnight rice
3 Chinese lup cheong sausage, cut into bite size
3 eggs, beaten
1 small onion, finely diced
180 g frozen mixed vegetables: carrots, corns and peas, thawed and drained
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine
1 Tbs oyster sauce
1 Tbs fish sauce
3 Tsp minced garlic
2 Tsp sesame oil
1 Tsp diced ginger
oil
salt
white pepper
sriracha chili sauce (OPT)

Method

Cooking Herbal Emperor Chicken

Wash and pat the chicken dry and place in a deep metal wide plate. Using a sharp skewer, poke the chicken all over with it, in particular the thigh area. (As the thigh area is often the part where the meat tends to take longer to be cook through). Mix well Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, sesame oil, and salt. Then marinate the chicken and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Soak dried shrimps in hot water for about 15-20 minutes to soften them and remove excess salt. Rinse the herbs and soak them in water briefly. Add the herbs and chicken powder into water about 1 cup in a deep wok and allow it to boil. After the herb stock has boiled, spoon the herbs and stock out into a bowl; set aside.

When 30 minutes time up, bring out the chicken, let it sit for 10 minutes. When soak dried shrimps time is up, drain the shrimp and pat dry with a paper towel. Pan-fry the dried shrimp for about 1 minute to enhance the flavour. You don’t have to pan-fry. Heat up the wok with enough water until hot. Meantime, place the Seah’s 2 pieces of parchment paper inside the wide deep metal container. 

After 10 minutes, chicken should come to room temperatures, transfer chicken to the prepared container with 2 pieces of parchment. Rub the herbs and spices all over the chicken from the Seah’s packet. Now add in dried shrimps into the cavity and some the herbs, pour the remaining herbs and stock all around the chicken. Then wrap the chicken in the plastic sheet and aluminium foil provided and steam for at least 1 hour. When 1 hour up, open up the parcel and check whether the chicken is tender. Taste the seasoning. If chicken is still not tender, steam for another 15 minutes. Depending on size of chicken.

Fried rice vegetables with lup cheong

Heat 4 Tbs oil in a hot wok until surface seems to glitter slightly. Pour beaten eggs into wok and leave to cook on the base of the wok for 10 seconds before folding egg mixture over onto itself with a spatula and lightly scrambling for about one minute or until almost cooked through. Carefully remove eggs from wok with a spatula and drain on paper towel. Set aside.

Add 1 Tbs oil and sauté 1 Tsp garlic until fragrant. Add Chinese lup cheong sausage, stir and cook for about 2 minutes until soft. Remove and set aside. Heat wok on medium high heat and add 4 Tbs oil. When the oil is hot, add 1 Tsp garlic and fry until fragrant. Then add onion and ginger. Stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until it starts to brown and soften.

Now add rice, mixed vegetables, sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and eggs. Stir to combine well with all the ingredients and rice is heated through about 2 to 4 minutes. Use spatula to break up eggs into smaller pieces while cooking about 1 minutes. Push the rice into the middle of the wok to let the edge of the wok heat up. After about 20 seconds, pour Shao Xing wine around the edge of the wok. Stir fry for another 20 seconds.

Adding the wine using this method gives the dish a little extra wok hei according to my grandma. At this point, taste the rice to see if it needs a little more salt, soy sauce, or white pepper and season accordingly. As soon as the rice becomes toasty, transfer rice to a bowls and serve with Herbal Emperor chicken. I drizzle chili sauce over my chicken. Enjoy with a glass of white wine!!!

Note: To make Herbal Emperor Chicken soup, add more water about 900 ml or more water and 1-2 Tsp chicken powder extra. You can add dried mushrooms; soaked in hot boiling water, strain and reserved the mushrooms water for extra flavour. You can use dried scallop and dried logan. You can use drumsticks instead of the whole chicken. There are few other herbals for chicken you can add in and get them from the herbal shop. You can serve with white rice instead of fried rice.

https://helenscchin.com/2022/07/07/emperor-chicken-fried-rice/

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