Steamed Chicken

We now enter the 'eat something clean' phase of the Buffet.  Of course my definition of clean may not be others' definition of clean.  I am just talking about no butter, no cream, no heavy sauce, no deep frying, and maybe a few other no's which I am not yet fully committing to.  I feel like once I write it down, I have to abide by it.  Tonight, I'm simply steaming a chicken I've brined and serving it with roasted broccoli and rice.


1 Whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 Cups water
2" piece of ginger, cut into matchstick pieces
2 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled and roughly chopped
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 Cup rice wine
Several dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked until soft
Combine everything, except for the mushrooms, and mix well.  Place chicken into a large zip lock bag with the brine and place in refrigerator for several hours.  Take the chicken out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before cooking.  If you're not able to do this, no worries.  You just have to steam it a little longer.
When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the brine and place pieces into a large bowl.  Place the mushrooms on top of the chicken.  Steam for 45-60 minutes.  The variation in time depends on how stacked your chicken is and the level of steam you have.  I steamed our chicken for about 50 minutes.  Don't let the bland color fool you.  It was super moist, tender and flavorful.  
As a final note, I took the juices in the bowl and separated the fat out, and am saving it for a later use.