Soy sauce chicken drumsticks
Cantonese-style drumsticks braised in sweet soy and ginger until glossy and mahogany, with bok choy cooked right in the sauce.
- 55 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.00 a serving
- 590 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, sliced into thin coins
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 4 stalks green onions, 2 cut into lengths, 2 thinly sliced
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 4 baby bok choy, halved lengthwise
From your pantry
- 3¼ cups water, divided
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
Each serving has about 590 calories, 38 g protein, 71 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $2.00 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice and bring it with 2¼ cups of water in a medium over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 18 minutes. Take it off the heat and keep the lid on.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
In a large deep , the soy sauce, brown sugar, the last cup of water, the ginger, garlic, five-spice and green onion lengths, and over medium-high.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Medium-high heat
Add the drumsticks and turn them in the sauce. Cover, turn the heat to low and 25 minutes, turning them every 8 minutes or so.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 25 min
Dolly’s tip: Turning them is what gives the even, glossy, mahogany color.Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Uncover, turn the heat to medium, and 8 to 10 minutes more, turning, until the sauce is a glossy and the thickest drumstick reads 165°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Glaze. A glaze is a thin, glossy coating, often sweet, brushed or spooned over food near the end. It adds shine and flavor, and because it has sugar, it can burn quickly.
How you’ll know: The food looks shiny and evenly coated, sticky at the edges but not blackened.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Lay the bok choy in the sauce, cover, and cook 3 minutes, until bright green and .
Tender-crisp. Tender-crisp means vegetables cooked until just tender but still with a little snap. They keep their bright color and crunch instead of going soft and dull.
How you’ll know: A fork goes in with slight resistance, and the color is bright, not olive or gray.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Serve the drumsticks and bok choy over the rice, spoon the sauce over, and scatter the green onions on top.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Chicken fried rice
55 min
Easy chicken stir-fry
30 min
Baked chicken drumsticks
55 min
Sheet pan chicken drumsticks and potatoes
60 min
High-protein dinners ›Cozy comfort food ›What to make with chicken and rice ›