Recipe: Hu Jing-style poached chicken

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During a recent trip to Tokyo, I enjoyed a meal at Hu Jing, a restaurant in the Janu Tokyo Hotel that serves up Cantonese cooking with a modern twist.

Chef Yusuke Yamaguchi’s menu is full of must-try items, but one of the dishes that I can’t seem to get off my mind since visiting is the Hu Jing-style poached chicken. The cold appetizer, which is served with a delicate slick of green oil, spring onions and ginger, was delightful.

Unable to provide a full recipe to recreate it at home, I dabbled with the insights that the restaurant’s team was able to offer, including the use of skinless chicken breast rather than the more common skin-on chicken thighs. The goal is to gently poach the chicken at a low temperature. This helps to retain the “tenderness and juiciness” of the meat.

I combined this insight with recipes found online for Hainanese chicken and green onion oil to create a close dupe to the memorable dish that I’d so enjoyed at the Janu.

Hu Jing-style poached chicken with chives and ginger

2 chicken breasts

1/4 cup (60 mL) scallion oil (recipe below)

2 tsp (10 mL) grated ginger

2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh chives

Fill a saucepan with water so that the two chicken breasts will be fully submerged once added to the pan.

Bring the water to a boil. Add the chicken breasts to the boiling water. Bring the water back up to a boil and then remove from the hot element. Allow the chicken to poach in the boiled water for at least 20 minutes.

Remove chicken and slice.

In a serving dish, add 1/4 cup of the scallion oil. Place the sliced chicken on top of the oil. Dress the poached chicken slices with a generous strip of chopped fresh chives. Top with grated ginger, adding more or less, as desired.

Enjoy!

Scallion oil

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

25 scallions

Remove white stems from scallions. Retain green tops and slice into three-inch pieces.

In a small pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and scallion tops. Cook until the scallions start to sizzle. Be careful to not get the oil too hot so that it burns the greens. Heat for three minutes.

Remove from heat and blend the oil and scallions in a small blender or use an emersion blender. Strain oil through cheesecloth to reveal a silky smooth finish. Can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for one week.

Serves 3-4.