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 based mostly sauce. The hen is browned, then braised till tender. The sauce is diminished 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 up tons of taste from the hen. It’s a winter dish however my household enjoys it 12 months spherical.
Rising up in Beijing, any such “crimson braised stew” has all the time been a staple. I’ve posted just a few recipes for crimson 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 hot button is the ratio and mixture of different spices.
By adjusting the spices in keeping 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 the whole lot works collectively as elements of an entire.
Chinese language braised hen elements
Which reduce of hen to make use of
In conventional Chinese language recipes, a cut-up complete hen is all the time the popular possibility. It is best 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. It’s also possible to save the again and neck for making hen inventory, and solely use the meaty items on this dish.
For those who’re near a market that has a butcher station, you may ask them to chop up the hen once 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 doable (solely when you might have a cleaver that’s appropriate for slicing bones), reduce them into two items throughout the bone.
Boneless legs – reduce into massive 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
Whenever you’re able to prepare dinner, you’ll have:
- Lower 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 best 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 is not going to overcrowd the pan and can brown correctly.
Saute the aromatics. Add again the hen and all of the seasonings. Carry 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 cut back the sauce. Scoop the hen from the underside ceaselessly to stop it from burning. It’s straightforward to cut back the sauce with the hen within the pan whereas utilizing a wok. However for those who’re utilizing a dutch oven, it’s a lot simpler for those who 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 keeping 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.
- Cut back the sauce till it may coat the hen, so the style of the hen will likely be good.
The best way to serve Chinese language braised hen with mushrooms
The seasoning on this dish is kind of balanced and the hen will style fairly savory and comforting. You possibly can serve the braised hen as a fundamental dish, together with veggies corresponding to potato and inexperienced beans. The sauce from the hen works superbly with them.
And you may as well serve this dish over steamed rice, identical to a Chinese language household would. Think about 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 will be ready forward of time. It’s excellent for cooking on the weekend and having fun with throughout the subsequent week. It’s additionally a typical pageant dish in northern China, and is usually served throughout Chinese language New 12 months.
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 smooth, 20 minutes or so. Put aside. Reserve the soaking water as soon as performed.
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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 each 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 sides 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 may largely 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 vital. If you wish to serve the hen by itself, the hen ought to style just below seasoned now, as a result of the saltiness will improve as soon as the sauce is diminished. 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 ultimately.
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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 continuously, till the sauce is thick sufficient to thinly coat the hen, 5 to 10 minutes. Pay a whole lot of consideration throughout this step, because the sauce reduces very quick in direction of the top 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 performed, sprinkle with the reserved inexperienced onion to garnish. Switch hen to a big bowl. Serve scorching as a fundamental 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 normal recipe makes use of a bone-in reduce up complete hen. The best reduce for this recipe is hen wings (drums and flats separated). One other nice possibility is bone-in drumsticks and / or thighs. You probably have a cleaver, I extremely advocate chopping the drumsticks and thighs into two items throughout the bones. So that you get large-bite dimension items that will likely be extra flavorful as soon as braised. However you may 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 largely cowl the hen) and fewer braising time, 20 to 25 minutes.
- It’s a lot simpler to cut back the sauce in a wok, as a result of you might have a really massive floor and the sauce thickens shortly. Plus, you may simply scoop the hen because of the form of the wok, with out burning the underside. If utilizing a dutch oven to prepare dinner this dish, take into account transferring all of the hen items to an enormous bowl, then lowering 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
