Chinese language braised hen with mushrooms is a traditional Northern Chinese language dish that’s comforting and satisfying. Bone-in hen items are braised in a savory broth with mushrooms to create a potent sauce that enhances them each. The mushrooms are the spotlight of the dish, meaty and juicy, and add an earthy umami to the tender hen.
Chinese language braised hen with mushrooms (小鸡炖蘑菇) is a traditional northern Chinese language homestyle dish. When my mother makes it, she makes use of a cut-up complete free vary hen together with dried shiitake mushrooms and a soy sauce primarily based sauce. The hen is browned, then braised till tender. The sauce is lowered till it turns into a shiny sticky sauce that is stuffed with umami from the mushrooms. The mushrooms are so meaty in texture and take in tons of taste from the hen. It’s a winter dish however my household enjoys it 12 months spherical.
Rising up in Beijing, this kind of “pink braised stew” has at all times been a staple. I’ve posted a couple of recipes for pink braised dishes, together with braised pork ribs, braised lamb, and braised pork trotters. The braising sauces would possibly look similar to one another – a robust, savory brown sauce with soy sauce as its base. However the bottom line is the ratio and mixture of different spices.
By adjusting the spices in accordance with the kind of protein, the sauce will create a personalized umami that brings out the deliciousness of the elements. Plus, you received’t style the flavour of any single spice within the completed dish, as a result of all the pieces works collectively as components of a complete.
Chinese language braised hen elements
Which minimize of hen to make use of
In conventional Chinese language recipes, a cut-up complete hen is at all times the popular possibility. You need to attempt to decide a hen on the smaller aspect, about 3 lb (1.4 kg). The again and neck don’t have a lot meat, however the bones in them will make the sauce additional tasty. You may as well save the again and neck for making hen inventory, and solely use the meaty items on this dish.
Should you’re near a market that has a butcher station, you’ll be able to ask them to chop up the hen if you buy it. Inform the butcher that you’ll use the hen for braising, and ask them to cut the hen into bite-size items utilizing their cleaver.
For a a lot simpler method, think about using:
Rooster wings – drumettes and flats separated
Bone-in leg – thigh and drumstick separated; if attainable (solely when you have got a cleaver that’s appropriate for slicing bones), minimize them into two items throughout the bone.
Boneless legs – minimize into giant bite-size items. You will have to make use of a lot much less liquid, as you solely have to cowl the hen items. And scale back the cooking time to twenty to 25 minutes.
Mise en place
If you’re able to prepare dinner, you should have:
- Minimize up hen items
- Inexperienced onion white half
- Soy sauce (gentle and darkish soy)
- Shaoxing wine
- Rock sugar (or common sugar)
- Salt
- Star anise
- Sliced ginger
- Soaked shiitake mushrooms
The way to make Chinese language braised hen with mushrooms
To make Chinese language braised hen with mushrooms, begin by browning the hen to develop taste. You in all probability want to do that in batches, so the hen won’t overcrowd the pan and can brown correctly.
Saute the aromatics. Add again the hen and all of the seasonings. Deliver to a boil and skim the brown foam from the highest.
Braise the hen with the pan coated, till the hen turns tender.
Lastly, flip to excessive warmth, uncover the pan, and prepare dinner to scale back the sauce. Scoop the hen from the underside continuously to stop it from burning. It’s straightforward to scale back the sauce with the hen within the pan whereas utilizing a wok. However when you’re utilizing a dutch oven, it’s a lot simpler when you switch the hen to a serving bowl first. Then scale back the sauce till barely thickened.
A Few Issues To Be aware
- Modify the braising time in accordance with the kind of hen. A free vary hen would possibly take greater than 1 hour to braise, whereas a typical younger hen will begin to collapse and dry out after 50 minutes. Test the doneness of the hen carefully after half-hour to keep away from overcooking.
- Make the braising sauce a bit salty, as a result of the braising time is comparatively quick and the hen received’t have sufficient time to soak up all the flavour.
- Scale back the sauce till it might coat the hen, so the style of the hen might be good.
The way to serve Chinese language braised hen with mushrooms
The seasoning on this dish is sort of balanced and the hen will style fairly savory and comforting. You may serve the braised hen as a predominant dish, together with veggies reminiscent of potato and inexperienced beans. The sauce from the hen works superbly with them.
And you can even serve this dish over steamed rice, identical to a Chinese language household would. Take into account serving different sides, soup or appetizers for a full Chinese language meal.
Dishes that go nicely with braised hen with mushrooms embrace:
Chinese language braised hen and mushrooms freeze very nicely and might be ready forward of time. It’s excellent for cooking on the weekend and having fun with through the subsequent week. It’s additionally a standard competition dish in northern China, and is usually served throughout Chinese language New Yr.
Chinese language Braised Rooster with Mushroom (小鸡炖蘑菇)
Servings: 4 to six servings
Directions
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Place dried shiitake mushrooms in a medium-sized bowl and add heat water to cowl. Rehydrate mushrooms till mushy, 20 minutes or so. Put aside. Reserve the soaking water as soon as accomplished.
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Warmth the oil in a big wok or dutch oven over medium-high warmth till scorching. Add the hen items with out overlapping. Cook dinner till either side are browned, 2 to three minutes per aspect. You would possibly have to prepare dinner in batches. Switch the hen to a big plate as soon as browned.
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Your pan ought to nonetheless have some oil left. If not, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the star anise inexperienced onion (white half) and ginger. Stir and prepare dinner over medium warmth till the perimeters of the aromatics are flippantly charred, 1 to 2 minutes.
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Add again the browned hen. Add 1 cup of the mushroom soaking water. Then add chilly water till it might principally cowl the hen, 5 cups or so. Add the Shaoxing wine, gentle and darkish soy sauce, rock sugar, and salt. Cook dinner over medium-high warmth till delivered to a boil. Skim and discard any brown foam from the highest.
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Add the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms. Then cowl the pan and switch to medium warmth. Preserve the liquid at a low boil till the hen turns tender, half-hour or so. Test the hen after quarter-hour, scooping the hen from the underside to stop it from sticking.
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Style a small piece of hen and a few sauce, including salt if obligatory. If you wish to serve the hen by itself, the hen ought to style slightly below seasoned now, as a result of the saltiness will enhance as soon as the sauce is lowered. If you wish to serve the hen over steamed rice, add a little bit of salt till it tastes good. On this case, I added 1/4 teaspoon of salt to get a barely salty dish in the long run.
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As soon as the hen turns tender, flip to excessive warmth and boil uncovered. (*Footnote 2) Use a spatula to scoop the hen from the underside continually, till the sauce is thick sufficient to thinly coat the hen, 5 to 10 minutes. Pay lots of consideration throughout this step, for the reason that sauce reduces very quick in direction of the tip and would possibly burn the underside. The sauce will thicken up a bit extra as soon as cooled.
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As soon as accomplished, sprinkle with the reserved inexperienced onion to garnish. Switch hen to a big bowl. Serve scorching as a predominant dish or over rice.
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Retailer the leftover hen in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 1 week or within the freezer for as much as 2 months.
Notes
- The standard recipe makes use of a bone-in minimize up complete hen. The best minimize for this recipe is hen wings (drums and flats separated). One other nice possibility is bone-in drumsticks and / or thighs. In case you have a cleaver, I extremely suggest chopping the drumsticks and thighs into two items throughout the bones. So that you get large-bite dimension items that might be extra flavorful as soon as braised. However you’ll be able to depart them uncut as nicely. Another choice is to make use of boneless cuts, ideally thighs. On this case, you will have much less liquid (simply sufficient to principally cowl the hen) and fewer braising time, 20 to 25 minutes.
- It’s a lot simpler to scale back the sauce in a wok, as a result of you have got a really giant floor and the sauce thickens rapidly. Plus, you’ll be able to simply scoop the hen as a result of form of the wok, with out burning the underside. If utilizing a dutch oven to prepare dinner this dish, contemplate transferring all of the hen items to a giant bowl, then decreasing the sauce by itself.
Vitamin
Serving: 1serving, Energy: 406kcal, Carbohydrates: 26.4g, Protein: 57g, Fats: 8.3g, Saturated Fats: 2.1g, Ldl cholesterol: 144mg, Sodium: 1152mg, Potassium: 556mg, Fiber: 3.5g, Sugar: 8.1g, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 2mg