Taiwanese Sesame Oil Chicken Soup 麻油雞

By Abby on July 23, 2024

Date Published: July 23rd, 2024 | Last Updated: July 23rd, 2024
Author: Abby | Category: soups, asian, Taiwanese, mains, easy, healthy
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 45 mins

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This is a classic Taiwanese dish that my wai po (maternal grandmother) used to make. This was one of her specialties and she'd often make it every time she came to visit because it is one of my mom's favourite dishes. I must admit, I didn't like it when I first had it as a child because she would put in a BUTTLOAD of alcohol (no joke, one entire bottle of rice wine), but over the years I've come to really crave it and it's become a very nostalgic dish. It's often made for postpartum women as a healing soup and is also a good winter soup that is said to improve circulation, warmth and health (just don't ask me how, probably from all the alcohol, lol). Over the years, this dish has become a comfort food for me and will always remind me of my wai po.

A photo of my late wai po and wai gong in 2016 ❤️

This soup may not be for everyone - it has a strong taste of alcohol and sesame oil (which is why it took me a while to warm up to it), but it's savoury and full of flavour. You can have it on its own, but my favourite is when it's served with thin noodles with a side of stir-fry leafy greens.

This recipe is a combination of my dad's and my grandmother's recipe, tweaked to have less alcohol.

Anyways, without further ado, here's the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you'll need:

1/2 cup of dried longyan fruit (optional)
1 Tbsp + 2 Tbsps + 1/4 cup black sesame oil
50g ginger, unpeeled and sliced to 2mm thickness
900g chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on, chopped into 5cm pieces
2 cups cooking rice wine/michu (19.5% alcohol - red label)
2 cups (480ml) of water
1 Tbsp dried goji berries (lycii fructus)
Salt to taste
Optional: thin noodles, 4 portions (I only had thick noodles on hand for the photos)

Directions:

Optional step if using longyan: soak the longyan in 1/2 cup of rice wine and set aside.

Slice the ginger very thinly

Sauté until the edges of the ginger curls

In a medium pot on MED-HIGH heat, add in 1 Tbsp of black sesame oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add in the sliced ginger and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the ginger curls and the ginger is lightly browned. Remove the ginger onto a plate and set aside.

Sear the chicken

In the same pot, add in 2 Tbsps of black sesame oil and sear the chicken thigh pieces until browned on both sides (3-4 minutes) - you may have to do this in two batches to not overcrowd the pot.

Add back in the ginger and all the seared chicken

Add rice wine

Add water

Simmer with lid on for 25 mins

Once the chicken has browned, add back in all the browned chicken and cooked ginger (from step 1), along with the rest of the rice wine, water, (and the soaked longyan with the soaking alcohol (from step 1), if using). Let the soup simmer for 3-4 minutes, then turn the heat down to LOW so it's at a gentle boil (we don't want to reduce the soup, but to slowly cook the chicken). Cook with the lid on for 25 minutes.

Optional: cook the noodles according to package instructions while the soup is boiling. Drain and divide evenly into the soup bowls.

Add in black sesame oil

Add in goji berries

Once the timer is up, check that the chicken is cooked (if not, continue to cook for longer). Add in 1/4 cup black sesame oil and goji berries. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Serve immediately or poured over cooked noodles if using. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Taiwanese Sesame Oil Chicken Soup 麻油雞

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried longyan (optional)
1 Tbsp + 2 Tbsps + 1/4 cup black sesame oil
50g ginger, unpeeled and sliced to 2mm thickness
900g chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on, chopped into 5cm pieces
2 cups cooking rice wine/michu (19.5% alcohol - red label)
2 cups (480ml) of water
1 Tbsp dried goji berries (lycii fructus)
Salt to taste
Optional: thin noodles, 4 portions

Directions:

Optional step if using longyan: soak the longyan in 1/2 cup of rice wine and set aside.
In a medium pot on MED-HIGH heat, add in 1 Tbsp of black sesame oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add in the sliced ginger and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the ginger curls and the ginger is lightly browned. Remove the ginger onto a plate and set aside.
In the same pot, add in 2 Tbsps of black sesame oil and sear the chicken thigh pieces until browned on both sides (3-4 minutes) - you may have to do this in two batches to not overcrowd the pot.
Once the chicken has browned, add back in all the browned chicken and cooked ginger (from step 1), along with the rest of the rice wine, water, (and the soaked longyan with the soaking alcohol (from step 1), if using). Let the soup simmer for 3-4 minutes, then turn the heat down to LOW so it's at a gentle boil (we don't want to reduce the soup, but to slowly cook the chicken). Cook with the lid on for 25 minutes.
Optional: cook the noodles according to package instructions while the soup is boiling. Drain and divide evenly into the soup bowls.
Once the timer is up, check that the chicken is cooked (if not, continue to cook for longer). Add in 1/4 cup black sesame oil and goji berries. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Serve immediately or poured over cooked noodles if using. Enjoy!