Chinese Chicken & Potato Stew

So I found this recipe on another food blog. The picture of the end product looked delicious, so I had to have me some of it, of course. So courtesy of World Foodie Guide we have Chinese Chicken and Potato Stew.

The stewing includes potatoes, shitake mushrooms, carrots, leeks. I would say the leeks are probably the key ingredient. They really give the soup a sweet yet fragrant flavor, oniony without all the pungency. I love it. It reminds me of a beef stew my mom would make. I think its essentially the same thing, the only difference is the soy sauce and ginger. Really makes it "Chinese" in my opinion.


The Stew:

• 4-6 good sized dried Chinese mushrooms
• carrots
• leek
• potatoes
• onions
• 3 slices fresh ginger, with peel left on
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 or 3 spring onions
• vegetable oil
• ½ tsp sugar
• ½ tsp soy sauce

The recipe is unclear about how much chicken you should use. It says use a "whole chicken." Well I don't like everything in a whole chicken. I love thighs so that's what I usually cook with. I just bought a package from the market which usually has about 6 pieces, roughly 2-2.5lbs. The "marinade" is so light, so I'm not sure if its meant for less chicken or what so I increase the portions a bit.

Chicken Marinade:

• 1 tsp salt
• pinch white pepper
• 1½ tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• cornflour / cornstarch
• 1 chicken

So you basically fry up the ginger and garlic in some hot oil. Get the pot all nice and fragrant before you add the chicken. The first time I made this I used whole thighs and the darn thing took hours to cook. The 2nd time I cut off the bone, but still cooked the bones for the extra flavor. It could in maybe 40 min? Definitely a time saver! Anyways, the marinade really allows the chicken to get some color and flavor initially before you start stewing everything. It really smells as good as it looks.




Then you add all the veggies and mix mix mix.



Then you add water. The first time I used water as instructed and I was really annoyed I had to add so much salt, soy sauce, and fish sauce so it wasn't so bland. The 2nd time I cheated and used chicken stock so it didn't need as much seasoning but I found that the flavor wasn't as pure and I couldn't control the taste as much.


So the next part is just stew stew stew. Although the end product doesn't look as appetizing as the picture from the blog seen here, I give it 2 thumbs up!





I'm not often times impressed with my own cooking, but my final product was certainly tastey and homey. Good to have when you're craving something warm and soupy but still substantial. I blame the crappy picture for robbing my stew of its true deliciousness. Come over and I'll make you some so you can taste for yourself!