Braised Hen with Chestnuts – 栗子焖鸡

This Braised Hen with Chestnuts is a deliciously cozy dish to have effervescent on the range this fall. Hearty and healthful from wealthy chestnuts and deeply flavored with shiitake mushrooms, it feels good when the temperatures go down!

A Conventional Chinese language Hen Stew

You’ll discover variations of this braised Hen with Chestnuts throughout China. For instance, you would possibly discover it with fragrant chilies and additional star anise. Different variations use chee hou sauce and oyster sauce (extra attribute of southern Chinese language delicacies). 

I did a hybrid of our household’s influences (I’m from Shanghai and Invoice’s household is from Guangdong province within the south), including star anise and oyster sauce for a extra advanced taste. Be at liberty to experiment and make it your individual! However I feel this recipe is excellent as written. 

Boneless Hen for Straightforward Consuming!

In China, nearly all hen is served bone-in. Whereas this doesn’t make your common Chinese language diner bat a watch, this may be barely inconvenient for those who’re not used to it, particularly in terms of braised stews that you just simply need to dig into with an enormous spoon. 

Whereas this basic Braised Hen with Chestnuts is often made with bone-in hen as properly, why not use boneless hen thighs and skip the bones? Plus, it cooks quicker! 

• To soak dried shiitake mushrooms, soak in room temperature water in a single day, or soak in just-boiled water for about 2 hours. 
• Even for those who’re utilizing the mushroom soaking water within the recipe, don’t dump every little thing into the pan unexpectedly. Use your fingers to take the mushrooms out fastidiously. Any sediment from the mushrooms can have settled to the underside. Pour the liquid into your dish and depart the final bit to keep away from getting filth in your dish!  

The place can I discover chestnuts?

Chestnuts flip up in grocery shops across the fall, so if you see them, snap them up! I cook dinner them, peel them, and freeze them to make use of deeper into the winter months. 

We even have a really beneficiant neighbor who has a chestnut tree within the yard and he periodically delivers baggage of scrumptious chestnuts to our door! It’s been one among my favourite fall issues since we moved to this home.

If you happen to don’t have a sort neighbor with a chestnut tree, you can too discover roasted, peeled chestnuts in baggage (listed below are some on Amazon). You’ll see them as a seasonal merchandise in some grocery shops, and I’ve even seen them at our native Costco! 

They really style fairly nice and are probably the most handy possibility for this recipe, since they require no pre-cooking or peeling. Our native Asian grocery retailer additionally shares frozen chestnuts all 12 months round. I preserve an additional bag within the freezer so I could make this dish any time I need. 

Braised Hen with Chestnuts: Recipe Directions

To a big bowl, add the hen items, 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine, salt, white pepper, and a couple of teaspoons gentle soy sauce. Combine properly. Lastly, combine in 2 teaspoons of oil to lock within the moisture and forestall sticking when browning. Refrigerate when you put together the opposite components.

To rehydrate your Shiitake mushrooms, soak them in 2 cups scorching water for two hours or in 2 cups of chilly water in a single day. 

While you’re able to cook dinner, warmth a wok or a Dutch oven over medium warmth. Add a tablespoon of impartial oil, and cook dinner the chestnuts for two minutes, or till they begin to blister flippantly. Take away and put aside. 

At this level, if the wok floor seems sandy or starchy from cooking the chestnuts, wash the wok with a scouring pad and scorching water to forestall burnt bits. If not, proceed.

Pre-heat the wok over excessive warmth till it begins to smoke flippantly. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of impartial oil, and swirl to coat the cooking floor. Cut back the warmth to medium, and cook dinner the garlic, ginger, the white components of the scallions, and the star anise for about 1 minute, or till the the scallions are flippantly browned. Add the hen items, spreading them in a single layer so every bit is involved with the wok. Improve the warmth to excessive and flippantly brown on each side.

Add the remaining tablespoon of Shaoxing wine, and toss the hen utilizing your wok spatula to scrape from the underside and forestall the hen from sticking. Cut back the warmth to medium excessive.

Add the mushrooms, the remaining 1 tablespoon of sunshine soy sauce, darkish soy sauce, oyster sauce, and the mushroom soaking water. Take care to go away behind any sediment that has settled to the underside of the bowl you used to soak the mushrooms! Combine every little thing properly, cowl, and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Take away the lid, and add the chestnuts. Give every little thing a very good stir, cowl, and simmer for 10-Quarter-hour. A number of the chestnuts could crumble as they soften, however that’s okay. 

Lastly, add the inexperienced components of the scallions. Stir till the sauce thickens and flippantly coats the hen and the chestnuts. (If there’s an excessive amount of sauce left after 20 minutes, you may make a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce as wanted.) 

Serve with steamed jasmine rice!