Braised Ginger Chicken

I think I've mentioned before that I'm in an online cookbook club called Lambs' Ears Cookbook Club.  Last month's book was Chinese-Ish by Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu.  I chose to make this dish - braised ginger chicken.  I'll be honest - Mr P. and I were not big fans of this one.  We ate it one night, but left heaps which I blinged up the next night.  

So this recipe is more my version of it, rather than straight out of the book.  And isn't that what cooking is all about?  Tweaking a recipe your way so you love it!?  As much as I appreciate the appellation contrôlée kinda foods, I think recipes should be your guide, not your master or mistress :=)

And speaking of ginger - Mr P. tells me of a time where his dad (who liked to brew his own) tried to make homemade ginger beer, but with glacé ginger rather than fresh (by mistake).  Yep, with all that sugar, it blew its stack and ended up all over the shed.  And that reminds me of the time I made homemade ginger beer, which literally exploded and blew out our dining room wall!  Oh, that Summer heat we have in old Brisbane town.  I must try to make it again in Winter :=)

ready for eating - with steamed veg.

Serves 4:

ingredients:

40-60 mL/1.3-2 oz sesame oil

6 cm piece (c. 80g./2.8 oz) old ginger, skin on if you wish, finely finely sliced and then each slice quartered (or not) - see Notes below

650g./23 oz chicken thigh fillets, chopped into large chunks

150g./5.3 oz mushrooms, roughly chopped (optional)

100g./3.5 oz baby corn, chopped (optional)

100g./3.5 oz red capsicum/pepper, roughly chopped (optional)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

1-2 Tbs water

1 tsp Mirin or mirin seasoning, or dry Sherry

1 Tbs Chinese rice wine or dry Sherry 

chopped herbs of your choice - I used parsley, chives and fresh coriander (cilantro) 'cos that's what's usually in my pantry and fridge

steamed rice or egg noodles for serving

Method:

Heat up the sesame oil in a wok or large frypan over medium heat

Tip in the ginger and stir for several minutes till tender and fragrant

Add your chopped chicken and stir for 4-5 minutes till starting to brown and cook through

Now add the mushroom, corn and capsicum if using, and stir in the salt, sugar, soy, and water

Whack on a lid, and let it simmer for 7-8 minutes

Check that the chicken is cooked through, then stir in the Mirin and Chinese rice wine 

Cast the chopped herbs over the top, and serve with rice or noodles

Notes:

We preferred a lesser amount of sesame oil, so I used less

Apparently you can find old ginger at Asian food stores but obvs. you can use regular ginger like I did!  I first made this dish with the sliced, unpeeled ginger which we did not like (an unpleasant mouthfeel and taste), so I made it again with small pieces of peeled ginger, which was much better for us, but you do you

The recipe calls for 6-8 thigh fillets, cut in half, but we prefer smaller, bite-sized chunks

The optional veg. that I suggest are not in the original recipe, but Mr P. and I much preferred a bit less chicken and lots of veg.!  So add another 150 grams or so of chicken if you are not adding any (or much) veg.

ingredients gathered (plus a few steamed veg. for my original side dish)

slice and chop your ginger

stir-fry your chopped ginger

add the chopped chicken

looking juicy :=)

dinner is served!

and we had it again as a stir-fry with rice the next night

(Joining in with Marg from The Intrepid Reader and Baker for Weekend Cooking.)

ginger root