Ginger and scallion chicken (姜葱鸡) is a traditional Chinese recipe. As simple as the ingredients sound, this is not an easy dish to cook well. This dish needs a lot of wok skills. Hence, this ginger-and-scallion style of cooking is often my taste test when I go to a new Chinese or Cantonese-style restaurant. If a chef can make a mighty wok hei-infused ginger-and-scallion dish—be it chicken, beef, ginger and scallion crab, or lobster—it’s a sure fire sign that the food will be great.
At home, I like cooking this dish when I want something quick and simple with my steamed rice (aka 30-minute meal) . I always marinate the chicken meat with potato flour (生粉) or corn starch. (This is one of the many secrets of Chinese cooking; this process will make the meat extra tender and smooth.) I once asked a master Chinese chef and he told me that potato flour is preferred as a tenderizing agent due to the gelatinous texture. He also told me that a wee bit of baking soda will do even more wonders to tenderize the meat, which you can learn all about it on my cashew chicken recipe post.
Ginger and scallion chicken and steamed rice is my ideal and homey meal. Try this ginger and scallion recipe at home and it will become your dinner table staple.
More Delicious Recipes
Chinese Mushroom Chicken
Steamed Chicken in Lotus Leaf
Chicken Noodles
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babe_kl
the wonder of this style is one can practically use all sorts of meat ie fish, beef, venison…
pablopabla
Simple yet delicious! And your presentation and photography skills are to be learnt! ;)
Susan
Love this quick, healthful dish! It’s beautiful like spring time.
TrueBluePenangite
I love this dish but I personally prefer beef as the main meat. I am so glad that you’re back now as I have missed your posts. Going to try out your ginger-scallion recipe on my next day off. I hope you had a blast of a time in sunny Penang!!
Passionate Eater
Yes, those wok skills are hard to master, but it looks like you did it quite well! You are a wok pro Miss Rasa Malaysia!
boo_licious
Yeah, the bicarb is usually used for beef to tenderise it.
wmw
Love this combo of yours!
Yummy
Yummy! But has anyone tried the Puter Nasi kandar restaurant in Perth which is said to be owned by PM Abdullah’s brother Ibrahim and a Chinese man? If true, what a story – Ali-Baba in Australia but Ali running the show! Only thing bothering me about this story is why would Abdullah’s brother want to work to Australia? Something wrong there.
fooDcrazEE
sounds delish …. infuse of ginger in the sauce and chicken….crunchy scallion……my… i miss it liao…indeed i have used some roasted pork and even chicken char siew with this style…
Miss Tiny
Could you find a recipe more simple and more delicious than this one? I don’t think so!!! Asian food is so full of tastes and colors… All your recipes are the best examples.
Can’t wait for the next recipe!!!
Friendly,
Alexandra
Tummythoz
Mine is usually done bone in. That flour tip works well with pork too.
teckiee
slurp slurp.. the meat look so juicy
Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
Yeah, the flour tip is cool. Allan always does that with his Kung Pao Cashew chicken. ;-) His signature dish! :-)
Restaurant can go overboard with baking soda though. The prawns get really crunchy but they lose their sweetness and so does chicken. I prefer to use timing to keep chicken tender, which means you take the chook off the heat and let residual heat cook it through. I just had dinner and I’m hungry again. ;-)
tigerfish
That’s also my homey meal ler! Dining in your home is like dining in high-class restaurant :)
Kok
That’s one simple yet delicious dish. I don’t know we should use the starch to marinate the chicken. I should try it next time. Thanks for the tips!:)
MissyZ
That looks amazing! I think I’ll be adding scallions to my shopping list this week :-)
My mother (I’m half Chinese/Malay) swears by baking soda when she makes beef in oyster sauce – it really does make meat very tender.
Chubbypanda
Cornstarch and arrowroot powder are culinary necessities in Chinese cooking. They add the essential nuo mouth-feel to the food. Nuo is that sticky, starchy feel commonly associated with glutinous rice, and is considered one of the three ultimate textures in Chinese cuisine.
Nate 2.0
That dish is certainly restaurant quality.
Rosa's Yummy Yums
That dish looks ever so fresh and tasty! I love those beautiful colors…
Kenny Mah
Ahh… so that’s the secret — marinating the chicken first! I have always just fried them as is. Now you tell me, it’s marinate first and with potato flour at that.
Maybe now my family won’t complain so much when I cook this (I’m the only who likes chicken breast; they find it too dry and prefer drumsticks/wings).
Danke!Q :)
Rasa Malaysia
Babe – exactly, it’s very versatile!
Pablo – Thanks! The secret to great pictures is natural light…as to presentations, I only use white plants. ;)
Susan – yes, they also call scallions spring onions…correct? :)
TruebluePenangite – yes, I have a great time in Penang. Have fun cooking.
PE – not really…there was no wok hei in my dish because smoke alarm didn’t go off this time!
Boo – yes.
WMW – Thanks.
Yummy – oooh you have inside scoops…
Foodcrazee – anything also can…as long as it fits your needs. ;)
Miss Tiny – thank you thank you. :)
Tummythoz – consider myself Americanized now…meat is always deboned and no skin now. :P
Teckiee – yes, just use some potato flour or corn flour and you will have juicy meat.
Allan and Nigel – I agree, the prawns in restaurants are all tasteless but great texture!
Tiga – when are you coming to my house? ;)
Kok – yes, let me know how it goes.
Missyz – I have yet to use baking soda to marinate meat, must try now.
CP – hear hear. ;)
Nate 2.0 – thank you. Now you can make it at home.
Rosa – green, yellow, white and creamy meat color…yes, very nice.
Kenny – yeah, try the marinate the meat in the future.
Audrey Cooks
RM,what a coincidence! I made the almost similar dish on Thursday for dinner but could not post cos my hosting is down! ha ha ha! great minds think alike! I used chicken pieces, spring onions and young ginger slices blah blah blah ….
stef
looks great, bee! love the simplicity of this dish, and allergy-free too!
BuddingCook
wow thanks. i love quick and easy meals. well you said not easy but quick. :) i’ll give it a try. :D
Keropok Man
one of my fav dish!
reminds me that i have not had this for some time.
aria
i know exactly what you mean about ginger infused wok-hei flavors. theres a place in chinatown that has a ginger fried rice that is so simple to look at but the ginger and green onion flavors are out of this world! i;ve never tried to recreate it at home…this looks so wonderful! Droooool!
nini
Un très beau site de belles recettes..!
Rasa Malaysia
Audrey – please post your photos and recipe ASAP…I would love to compare notes. ;)
Stef – yes, I think this is a very “safe” dish, that is, almost everyone can eat this. :)
Budding Cook – yes, please try the recipe and let me know how it goes.
Aria – exactly. There is one Chinese restaurant here that serves great “ginger and scallion fill-in-your-blank” with killer wok-hei…yum. It’s really hard to get that kind of wok hei at home.
Nini – merci! :)
Jessie Woo
*saliva dripping* my tummy is making noise now :s
Btw, I love the way u take picture :D
Claude-Olivier
Mon c’est trop beau !!! God, it too nice !!! your pictures are just fantastic…for a so “simple” recipe… I love it !
Cheers
Claude
Rasa Malaysia
Jessie – thanks. You are too sweet. :)
Claude – Merci! :)
marriedtoadesi.com
lovely pictures!
Vero
Thanks for the tip about the baking soda, I didn’t know about it… I’ll try it next time I use both chicken and my wok.
Your pictures are beautiful, as always…
simcooks
Allo… I am catching up on your older posts. (Cos I have been busy searching for baby stuff after I got back from SG)
Qn:Is your wok a non-stick teflon wok?
Mine is, and I am afraid to heat it up too hot (until smoking) cos I thought that would destroy the teflon coating. Any comments?
k.t.x
emmm, this dish looks clinical altho i can sense its appeal! i always though chicken with bone churn out a better dish, instead of fillets etc.
daphne
i love this recipe, using fish… one of my ‘must order’s when i go out to eat.. i tried replicating this dish at home, but my fish turned flaky, and mush. anything wrong with what i’m doing? i htink the fish i’m using is basa freshwater fish.
Anonymous
We always order ginger and scallion chicken from the chinese restaurants. Maybe I should use your ginger and scallions chicken recipe and make them myself. ;)
fish
Im a fan of this recipe.Ive eaten it in many places back at kl & penang and all of them tasted good.The BEST is at jaya jusco prai penang at the food court.There's only 1 spot where they sell on the spot chinese dishes with rice.Awesome!
Effie
How much exactly is one chicken breast fillet (in weight)? Thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
One boneless and skinless chicken breast is about 8 oz to 10 oz, depending on the size.
Simon
Hi Bee,
well, I have a outdoor high btu wok burner for us in spring and summer. I tried this dish, and managed to get some flames in the wok. Basically i was heating wok for a long time, and once oil smoked a lot it was small flames in the wok when ingredients were added. I constantly tossed the food, and achieved some flames. The result was actually quite impressive. Isn’t this what they refer to as the “bao” technique?
Lim KY
Potato flour for marinating the chicken pieces – may I know is it sweet potato flour or potato flour ? sweet potato flour is difference from potato flour ? or the same thing.
Laura
Hello, I have made this dish several times using this recipe and the flavour is wonderful. The only problem I have is that the spring onions wilt whilst the chicken is cooking, which looks quite unattractive. Any tips on how to prevent them from wilting in the heat?
Rasa Malaysia
Add them towards the end.
Jane
Quick question, when you say “add oil to seal in the juice of the meat,” do you mean coat the chicken in the oil and THEN add the potato flour? Or add the oil to the potato flour and mix it together and THEN add the chicken? Sorry I’m kind of new to cooking! Also, is it necessary to use a wok to cook this dish? Thank you in advance!
Rasa Malaysia
After coating the chicken with potato flour, then add the oil. This will make the chicken extra moist.
Stacey T.
I was just going to ask this question. Looking forward to trying this.
Jessie
Why potato flour or corn flour? Why not regular flour or cornstarch?
Rasa Malaysia
You can use cornstarch. They work all the same.
Jennifer Schwarz
This was a great meal. The chicken was very juicy and the ginger and scallions added so much flavor. I did notice that mine was a lot browner than the one you pictured above. Do oyster sauces have a lot of variety ( in hue and taste )? Thanks for the great recipe. I’ll be visiting your site often.
presa1200
Simple but delicious, even the malay communities appreciate it and made a malay version called ayam masak halia. This dish is all time favorite.
Anna Mitchell
Anything I can substitute for the oyster sauce without soy or mushrooms? My Chinese restaurant won’t give me the recipe but said they use ketchup?
Rasa Malaysia
No, they don’t use ketchup. You can use Bragg Liquid Aminos if you don’t want to use oyster sauce.