Cut up the chicken into 8 pieces so you get 2 drumsticks, 2 wings, 2 thighs and 2 sides of the breast. Leave the skin on and the bones in.

Chef's Tip: check out this video to learn how to cut up a whole chicken into parts. 

Grate the 4 gloves of garlic finely, set aside.

Peel the skin off the ginger, thinly slice it, and set aside.

Slice the 8 bird’s eye chilies into small pieces about 0.7 cm thick, and split them into 2 portions. 1 portion (4 chilies) for marinating the chicken, 1 portion (4 chilies) for garnishing the chicken after it is cooked

In a separate bowl, pour the prawn paste, sesame oil and fish sauce onto the chicken pieces, and massage the sauce onto the chicken.

To the chicken, add the black pepper, sugar, chicken seasoning, and corn flour, mix well. If you do not have corn flour, you may use tapioca flour.

Next, add the garlic, ginger, 1 portion of the bird’s eye chilies, and the water. If bird’s eye chilies are too spicy, you may use fresh cayenne pepper or serrano chilies.

Massage the marinade into the chicken.

Leave the chicken to marinade in the fridge for at least 30min.

For best results, marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge.

After the chicken has marinated, place it in your steaming dish.

Cover the dish with aluminium foil and place it in your steamer. This prevents condensation from the steam pot lid from falling onto the chicken and diluting the marinade.

Steam the chicken on medium heat for about 40min.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove the foil-covered dish from the steamer carefully.

Garnish with the freshly chopped bird’s eye chilies and serve while hot.