These Steamed Chicken Legs are an easy-to-make comfort food. Marinated with shallots, garlic, fresh ginger, sand ginger powder, and chicken bouillon, the result is tender, perfectly silky chicken with a delicious aroma and concentrated chicken flavor.
Another reason to try this recipe? Chicken drumsticks or leg quarters are by far the most affordable cut of chicken, at $1 to $2 per pound. They’re so juicy and delicious, who knows how long that will last!
Fast and Easy Weeknight Comfort Food
This recipe is a comfort food dish I fondly remember from my childhood. Chicken drumsticks were—and still are—one of the least expensive cuts of chicken, so it fit my mother’s limited budget, without skimping on volume.
She prepared and marinated the chicken legs overnight in the fridge. The next day, it was ready to go in the steamer. Make some fresh rice, stir-fry some leafy greens, and dinner is served.
It’s hard to decide which is the real prize – the chicken, or the savory juice from the steaming plate that you can pour over rice. It’s a real favorite with kids!
Save Money with Chicken Drumsticks!
Like everything these days, chicken has gotten pretty expensive. You’ll pay a premium for chicken breast of course. That was always the case. But with the popularity of chicken thighs in recent years, the price of those has increased too!
When the girls were little, we would routinely cook chicken wings (see Judy’s braised chicken wings), but even those are now expensive, reserved as a treat for special parties and occasions.
What’s left? The drumstick. In fact, keep it quiet, because we don’t want Big Chicken to catch on and start charging more! Drumsticks are a crowd pleaser—juicy and easy to eat. At least in a Chinese household, someone’s always ready to pounce on the drumstick!
What is Sand Ginger?
Sand ginger (shā jiāng, 沙薑) adds a unique aromatic flavor to this steamed chicken. It is similar to galangal, another member of the ginger family with a sharper flavor. We usually use sand ginger powder, which is available in the spice aisle of your local Chinese grocery store, but it also comes in dried slices. See our detailed post on sand ginger for more details.
Sarah uses it in her Oven-Baked Asian Dry Rub Chicken. It is a fast weeknight version of Judy’s traditional style Salt Baked Chicken.
Kaitlin uses sand ginger in her Homemade Chili Oil and in the Cooked Ginger Scallion Oil recipe in our cookbook, which is an updated, more traditional Cantonese version of this one!
How to Steam Chicken
The main challenge people find with steaming is in the setup. We have a whole post onHow to set up a Steamer, with three different methods!
When you’re steaming chicken, I find the most important thing is taking the marinated chicken legs out of the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or ideally 1-2 hours. This step ensures your chicken legs cook evenly. Putting cold chicken legs straight from the fridge into the steamer (or oven for that matter, in case you were wondering) may result in undercooked chicken near the bone.
Recipe Instructions
In a heatproof shallow dish (a glass or ceramic pie plate works well), add the chopped shallots, oyster sauce, minced garlic, salt, cornstarch, chicken bouillon, sand ginger powder, sugar, grated ginger, and white pepper. Stir to combine into a paste.
Rub the chicken legs thoroughly with the marinade to coat. Arrange in the dish so they are lying flat. Cover and marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight for best results.
When you’re ready to cook the dish, take the marinated chicken legs out of the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. This helps ensure your chicken legs cook evenly.
Carefully place the dish in a pre-heated steamer with boiling water, cover, and steam over medium-high heat for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken legs. You can use a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature has reached 160-165°F/71-74°C.
Top the chicken with chopped scallions if desired, and serve with plenty of white rice and a stir-fried leafy green vegetable on the side.
Can I Use Other Cuts of Chicken?
If you want to use other cuts of bone-in chicken like thighs or wings, the cooking times won’t change too much. If you would like to use boneless chicken or white meat chicken, you may want to cut it into smaller pieces the way we do in our Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms and Dried Lily Flowers.
In that recipe, we call for steaming it for 10 minutes. Steam for 10 minutes, turn off the heat, and then let the chicken sit in the steamer for another 5 minutes. When in doubt, use a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature reaches 160-165°F/71-74°C. The juices should run clear.
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Recipe
Steamed Chicken Legs with Sand Ginger
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 garlic clove (minced)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons chicken base or bouillon
- ¼ teaspoon sand ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 pinch white pepper
- 2 pounds chicken drumsticks (about 6 chicken legs)
- 1 tablespoon chopped scallion (optional)
Instructions
- In a heatproof shallow dish (a glass or ceramic pie plate works well), add the chopped shallots, oyster sauce, minced garlic, salt, cornstarch, chicken bouillon, sand ginger powder, sugar, grated ginger, and white pepper. Stir to combine into a paste.
- Rub the chicken legs thoroughly with the marinade until they are coated, and arrange in the dish so they are lying flat. Cover and marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight for best results.
- When you’re ready to cook the dish, take the marinated chicken legs out of the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. This helps ensure your chicken legs cook evenly.
- Carefully place the dish in a pre-heated steamer with boiling water, cover, and steam over medium-high heat for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken legs. You can use a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature has reached 160-165°F/71-74°C.
- Top the chicken with chopped scallions if desired, and serve with plenty of white rice and a stir-fried leafy green vegetable on the side.
