Chan Hong Meng beamed with pride when his stall in Singapore’s Chinatown district was awarded a Michelin star, the Daily Mail UK reported, making history as the first hawker stall to ever receive a Michelin rating.
His famous Hong Kong Style Chicken Rice and Noodles earned him the prestigious award, which is the highest honour esteemed to chefs around the world.
The Malaysian-born 54-year-old hawker has accumulated over 35 years of experience in cooking Hong Kong-style soya sauce chicken noodles, a priceless recipe that he learned from a Hong Kong chef years ago.
The northern Chinese dish consists of braised and tender chicken pieces in a pool of high quality dark soy sauce, usually accompanied by noodles or rice and a small serving of chilli sauce.
“With food, you can never stop learning,” Chan told Michelin Guide Singapore. “I believe it’s the skill of a chef that makes his food outstanding.”
And he’s right. Cooking is a healthy and therapeutic hobby that brings joy to everyone around you, and there’s a whole world of recipes out there waiting to be tested.
Cooking requires passion and patience, but the quality of the food often boils down to the chef’s techniques.
So if you’d like to pick up some new recipes and master the basics of preparing a great meal, just submit a request for cooking classes and let Kaodim connect you to some of the best cooking schools near you. Before you know it, you’ll be the master chef in your home.
Here’s how to recreate your homemade Hong Kong Style Soya Sauce Chicken.
Ingredients (Serves 5-6 people)
• 10 chicken drumsticks, rinsed and patted dry, lightly rubbed with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine)
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 8 slices fresh ginger
• 6 stalks green onions or scallions
For the braising liquid:
• 3/4 cup light soy sauce
• 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
• 3 cups water
• 3 tablespoons Chinese rose wine
• 2 tablespoons rock sugar
• Dash of white pepper
Method
• Add cooking oil into a heated pot, and stir fry the ginger, garlic and green onions on low heat until fragrant.
• Add dark and light soy sauce along with the water. Allow to boil before throwing in the rock sugar and Chinese rose wine. Feel free to add a little more sauce, rock sugar or a dash of pepper according to your taste preference.
• Crank down heat to a low simmer and 10 minutes later, include the drumsticks into the mixture.
• Cook for another 15-20 minutes until the drumsticks are fully cooked, before removing chicken from the braising liquid.
And there you have it – a delicious plate of Hong Kong-style soya sauce chicken in all its steaming glory.
• Serve with white rice or noodles, and add a slight dash of chilli oil to spice things up.
This article first appeared in Kaodim.
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