Huiji Paper Wrap Chicken 汇集纸包鸡

I'm not familiar with TCM or chinese herbs and thus seldom prepare herbal dishes at home. But once in a while when the weather is rainy and cold, my family would crave for some soothing Emperor Herbal Chicken. Those times, either we dine out at zi char stalls or I would buy commercial soup pack with all the necessary herbs and some even come with plastic sheet and aluminum foil.

After receiving a complimentary bottle of Huiji Waist Tonic (from Singapore Home Cooks and Huiji), I read through the ingredients and learnt that Huiji is made with 6 different kinds of premium-quality herbs, Cordyceps, Ginseng, Du Zhong, Dang Gui, Shou Wu and Da Zao.

So I thought Huiji would be a good alternative to actual herbs used in Emperor Herbal Chicken.

In addition to Huiji, I only added dried huai shan, red date and goji berries to the broth as I happen to have these ingredients in my fridge (cannot remember when or where I got them!).

It's really simple to whip up! There are only 3 of us in the family and we prefer chicken leg than a whole chicken so it makes this dish even easier to prepare. Just rub salt all over the chicken legs, leave for 10 mins, rinse and pat dry. In a cooking pot, combine chicken stock, huiji waist tonic, dried huai shan, red date, goji berries and rock sugar. Bring to boil and simmer till rock sugar is melted. Make corn starch slurry and add to the broth to thicken it slightly.

Line aluminum foil and cooking paper over a heat-proof pot or bowl, place chicken legs into the lined pot and pour the broth over the chicken. Wrap up the chicken and place the pot into a steamer with rapid boiling water. Steam the paper wrap chicken for 2hrs and it's ready to serve!

Huiji Paper Wrap Chicken 汇集纸包鸡

Ingredients

• 3 kampong chicken legs
• 250ml (1 cup) chicken stock
• 100ml Huiji Waist Tonic
• 5 pcs dried huai shan
• 5 pcs red date
• 1 tbsp goji berries
• 40g rock sugar
• 1 tbsp corn starch + 2 tbsp water

 Steps

1. Rub salt all over chicken legs, leave for 10 mins, rinse and pat dry. Set aside.
2. In a sauce pot, add chicken stock, Huiji, dried huai shan, red date, goji berries and rock sugar. Bring the mixture to boil and simmer till rock sugar is melted.
3. Add corn starch slurry to thicken the broth.
4. Line a heat-proof pot or bowl with aluminum foil and cooking paper. Place the chicken legs inside. Pour the broth over the chicken legs.
5. Wrap up the cooking paper and aluminum foil tightly. 
6. Place the pot/bowl into a steamer with rapid boiling water. Steam for 2hrs and the chicken is ready to be served.

When I served this dish for dinner, the HB thought that I had used one of those commercial Emperor Herbal Chicken packs, which shows that the taste is actually similar :) Haha. In fact, I thought it tastes even better! With Huiji Waist Tonic, I don't have to buy those premix anymore! The broth is so flavourful that once again I ate more rice than usual :p

As the kiddo only ate the chicken drumstick and both HB and I managed our own chicken leg portions, I had a chicken thigh left which I kept for my lunch the next day. All I need is to cook some egg noodles and choy sum, heat up the chicken with the broth and serve together. The broth goes well with noodles too!

This recipe is another keeper for me!