Soy Sauce Chicken Drumsticks

Walking along the meat department of 99 Ranch Market, I was in search of something to make for dinner. Something easy and low stress.....when my eyes happened upon these:

 

The humble chicken drumstick. As I stood and stared(obviously mouth agape - good thing there were no flies around) at the styrofoam tray of poultry, my mind took me back to the joys of the drumstick. Has there ever been anything more perfectly designed than natures own "meat-on-a-stick?" And as a child, I adored them. So on this day, instead of the chicken legs, or whole fryer that I had been contemplating, I returned home with 8 drumsticks.

But what to do with them.......would it be a simple "fry-job"? Or perhaps a dijon based baked drumstick? There seemed to be a  infinite number of options...... As I put away my groceries, direction became pretty clear. I had purchased some Gailan (Chinese Broccoli), so the direction would have to be Asian. And so I settled on doing a basic "Soy Sauce Chicken" recipe. Something I've been making for years. After all, I was doing drumsticks, so isn't there anything more basic than doing a simple soy sauce braise?

So here you go, a simple, Sunday, soy sauce, dish. You may want to make it on Saturday, and heat it on Sunday, it will taste better.

Soy Sauce Chicken Drumsticks

8-10 Chicken Drumsticks, or 3lbs various chicken parts, ORRR 1 whole fryer.
2 cloves of garlic smashed
2 3/4" pieces ginger smashed
2 star anise
4 scallions, white parts only, bruised
2 cups water
1 cup light soy sauce
2-3 Tb dark soy sauce
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup Shao Xing Wine

1 - In a wok or dutch oven combine water, ginger, star anise, garlic, and scallions, over medium heat.
2 - When water starts to boil, add soy sauce, sugar, and Shao Xing. Stir to dissolve sugar. At about this point, I always taste my braising liquid....if you've never done that before, please do...it may taste "yuck", but after making dishes over time, you'll be able to better predict how things will turn out, and make adjustments.
3 - Add chicken to wok, turning several times to make sure chicken is fully coated for about 5 minutes.
4 - Turn heat to low, and simmer chicken, turning every 8-10 minutes until done. These drumsticks took only 20 minutes. Do not overcook, the chicken will fall apart and get mushy.
5 - Serve with a little dish of the sauce.

You can take this in many directions....soy sauce eggs anyone? I found this to be close to the salty edge, so I made up a Ginger-Scallion Oil, just like what I make for my cold ginger chicken, which cut the salt and fat real well:

 

I hope you had a great weekend!

Comments

[Dennis]

Very impressed Kirk.. funny I just made some Coca Cola drumsticks a few days ago which is my version of a low stress meal but was too embarrassed to post, haha. Yours look much more delicious!

[sawyer]

bookmarked to make in the future. thanks kirk! i made some teriyaki wings last week, and still have some wings, so will make this recipe next time. shao xing wine....never have used it before, but guess it's about time to buy it and try it

[kat]

yummy!

[Kirk]

Hi Dennis - he-he-he...I think that's very post-worthy...after all if you're willing to post about shokupan...

Hi Sawyer - You'll find that this is so easy to make.

Hi Kat - Thanks....

[Carol]

Looks delicious! I just made a batch of chicken adobo using only drumsticks.

[janfrederick]

Nice. I'm always nabbing whole trays of drumsticks. They are indeed perfect!

[Amy]

Those look very tasty! I tend to plop them in spicy yogurt marinade overnight and then roast them in a hot oven, sort of an attempt at tandoori chicken without the tandoor. The other thing I've done is to make ragu once they're falling off the bone, which is remarkably good for a not red meat sauce. I'll add this to the chicken leg repertoire!

[RT]

CLASSIC easy Chinese way to cook chicken. I grew up on this stuff and make it all the time (slightly different recipe of course), including just last week! Although I did it with $0.79/lb chicken leg from Lucky Seafood. I like to throw in some sesame oil and sriracha for a little kick. I also threw some frozen peas/carrots/green beans in while cooking my rice to make it the easiest, more or less complete meal ever.

[sarah]

How did you cook the gai lan -- mine's always woefully overcooked - 5 mins, 10, or? Start in cold or boiling water?

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - Such great portability, those drumsticks.

Hi Jan - You know, I hadn't bought drumsticks in the longest time.... now I'm wondering why....

Hi Amy - Tandoori sounds great.... though I prefer using thighs for those!

Hi RT - Few things easier than making these.

Hi Sarah - You'll notice that I separated the large stems from the leafy portions...this makes things easier when I blanch. If I'm steaming I'll keep it whole. I use boiling water, and start the stems first...right when they become somewhat pliant I'll remove them, being aware of carry-over cooking...if I'm eating them later I'll place immediately into an ice bath. The leafy portion I'll blanch until the leaves wilt, which usually works fine. I don't do the broth thing, just salted water. I make a sauce using oyster sauce, soy sauce, mirin, and sesame oil.

[Faine G]

Looks great! I'll try it with some thighs or a half chicken as well...bet it'll be just as good!

[stephen]

Hi Kirk, they look great. Thanks. BTW do you peel the ginger? Also, what is the first dish in your Monday 1/26 post?
Thanks

[Kirk]

Hi Faine - Half chicken will work perfectly! Happy New Year to you, and I love your food blog! I hope everyone checks it out:

http://teenagechowhound.blogspot.com/

Hi Stephen - Yes, I peel the ginger. That is abalone with black mushroom in that photo.