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Taiwanese Sesame Oil Chicken (麻油雞湯)

This hearty, warming chicken soup has a rich flavor yet is simple to make! With only six ingredients, it is a classic staple of Taiwanese home cooking.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: Chinese, Taiwanese
Keyword: ma you ji, sesame chicken soup, sesame ginger chicken soup, sesame oil chicken soup
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thigh or drumsticks 900g
  • 2 tbsp black sesame oil or toasted sesame oil, plus more to taste
  • 2 inches ginger in large thinly sliced pieces
  • 1 cup rice wine 240 mL
  • 3 cups boiling water plus more as needed
  • salt to taste
  • green onion chopped (optional, for garnish)

Instructions

  • Heat a large pan (or pot/wok) over medium heat.
  • Add the black sesame oil and sliced ginger into the pot. Fry the ginger slices until they reach a deep golden brown, around 7-10 minutes. Remove the ginger and set aside for later.
  • Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the chicken to the pan. Sear the chicken until it is browned on all sides. (You may need to sear in batches if the chicken is too crowded in the pan. **Note 1)
  • Add the ginger from before, rice wine, boiling water, and salt to the pan. The water amount should be enough to cover most of the chicken. (If not, add more. **Note 2)
  • Bring the soup up to a boil. Lower the heat so that the soup is at a simmer.
  • Cover and simmer the soup for around 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked completely and the wine flavor has mellowed out.
  • Taste the soup and add more salt and black sesame oil as needed. Optionally garnish with sliced green onion before serving.

Notes

  1. Searing chicken: If the chicken is too crowded in the pan, it will steam and cook without picking up any color. So, make sure that the chicken pieces have some space between each other so they can sear/brown properly.
  2. Water Amount: Depending on whether you are using a pan/pot/wok, the amount of water you will need can vary greatly. Try not to add more than 1 additional cup of water (4 total cups), or the soup could become watered down and bland.