A whole chicken poached in a master stock of dark soy, rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, ginger, star anise, and scallion. The bird simmers at a bare tremble — just below boiling — until it reaches a deep mahogany outside and stays just-cooked pink at the bone. Served at room temperature, chopped through the bone in the Cantonese siu mei way.
Soy sauce chicken is a staple of Cantonese siu mei shops, the roast-meat specialist stalls that have operated in Hong Kong since at least the early 20th century. The dish belongs to the same family as roast duck and char siu but requires no roasting — the colour comes entirely from the soy baste.
A whole chicken, mahogany brown, hanging in the siu mei shop window. Chopped through the bone into pieces — the cuts go through with one stroke. Skin is lacquered and thin, the fat underneath rendered. The meat is just-cooked: a faint pink line near the bone is acceptable, even expected. Served at room temperature or slightly warm, never reheated in a microwave. A plate of thin soy sauce and ginger on the side.
The key is the poaching temperature: maintained at 85–90°C, never at a rolling boil. Above 95°C, the breast muscle proteins over-denature and the meat goes stringy. The master stock is called 卤水 (lǔ shuǐ) — it deepens in flavour with each use as protein and fat from successive chickens accumulate. The colour comes from the dark soy and light soy balance in the brine; no artificial colouring is added. After poaching, the chicken is brushed with sesame oil and hung to cool: this firms the skin and prevents condensation from making it soggy. The faint pink or trace of red near the bone comes from blood retained in the marrow and from myoglobin in the muscle next to it, not from undercooking — the gentle-poach method cooks the bird fully through while keeping it moist.
Variations
HK siu mei shop version (豉油鸡) is sliced and plated cold. Cantonese white-cut chicken (白切鸡) is a close relative — same poaching technique but without the dark soy baste. Some shops offer a younger, smaller chicken for more tender meat. Yung Kee Restaurant (镛记酒家) in Central is a cited benchmark for the siu mei tradition.
On the Palate
Where Soy Sauce Chicken sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
6 steps · 1 hour 30 min
- 112 min
Combine dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, ginger slices, star anise, and knotted scallions in a pot with 600ml water; bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes to bloom the spices.
- 240 min
Submerge the whole chicken breast-side down; bring back to a simmer, reduce to the lowest heat, and poach at a bare tremble for 35–40 minutes.
Watch outA bubbling boil contracts the breast meat and makes it stringy — the surface of the stock should be barely moving, with only the occasional lazy bubble.
- 315 min
Turn off the heat and steep the chicken in the covered pot for 15 minutes; this carries the thigh joint to safe temperature without overcooking the breast.
- 42 min
Lift the chicken and drain the cavity liquid back into the pot; place on a rack over a tray.
- 510 min
Brush the skin with sesame oil while still warm; rest 10 minutes before chopping.
- 65 min
Using a heavy cleaver, chop through the bone into bite-sized pieces Cantonese-style; arrange on a plate with the chopped carcass reassembled for presentation.
Watch outChopping while the chicken is hot makes the skin tear and the juices run out — wait until it is cooled to near room temperature.
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