Chinese Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage

Begin by soaking 4-5 dried dried shiitake mushrooms in boiling water for about 20-30 minutes. Place a plate on top of the mushrooms to keep them submerged.

Finely chop 2 stalks green onions and separate the whites to mix in with the chicken later, and the greens for garnish at the end.

Slice 1 Chinese sausage (Lap Cheong). I like to cut them slightly diagonally to make them larger pieces. Set them aside.

While the mushrooms are soaking, cut 3 chicken thighs into ½-inch thick slices and add them to a bowl and set it aside for marinating. I usually like removing the skin, but you can leave it on if you want extra chicken fat and flavor in your dish.

Once the shiitake mushrooms are soft, cut off the tough stems and discard them, then slice the mushrooms. If you are using smaller shiitake mushrooms, you can cut them in half instead. Set them aside.

Mix the cut chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1½ tablespoons Chinese rice wine (miju) (or Shaoxing wine), and ¾ teaspoon sesame oil and let it sit. The longer you marinate the chicken, the more flavorful it will be. Do not add the cornstarch and oil yet.

Get your steamer ready with hot water and set it to high heat. Make sure there is at least 2-3 inches of water in the steamer. If you don't have a metal or bamboo steamer, you can also use a large pot with a trivet, or a wok with 2 wooden chopsticks crisscrossed at the bottom. Make sure the water doesn't go past the trivet or wooden chopsticks, you don't want the plate to touch the water. Be extra careful when placing the plate on the chopstick version, because it's not very stable.

Add in 1½ teaspoon cornstarch and mix the chicken well until it is well coated, then mix in 1 tablespoon oil to coat everything.

Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms, Chinese sausage, and the whites of the green onions, and mix everything well.

Place the chicken, Chinese sausage, and sliced shiitake mushrooms in a single layer on a large plate or on a plate with a lip. You can also use a pie plate as well.

Add the plate to the steamer, cover it with a lid, and steam for 10 minutes.

Once the chicken is cooked through, serve your Chinese steamed chicken with white rice and enjoy!