Today I’m going to make braised chicken with chestnuts. You can taste the rich savory flavor in this Chinese braised chicken with chestnuts: chicken, chestnuts, and mushrooms, in a rich broth.
Image Credit: Chen Jing for My Chinese Home Kitchen, 2024.
The chestnuts used in this recipe are a product of autumn. Eating hot chestnuts in winter is a warm thing. Chestnuts are rich in carbohydrates, protein, and cellulose. Chestnuts are cooked in many ways in the Chinese home kitchen. Usually they will be boiled and cooked to maturity, then shelled and eaten. This is the simplest cooking method, and you can taste the true flavor of the chestnuts. You can also make sugar-fried chestnuts. Or you can use chestnuts in pastries. Another way to eat it is to cook it as a side dish.
The cooking method we will use is called red braising. First we blanch and brown the chestnuts, then brown the chicken, and finally we simmer everything for 20 minutes in water to make the ingredients tender and soft in a savory, thick broth.
For this recipe, we need to blanch and then fry the chestnuts in oil, so that the chestnut surface has a hard shell to keep its shape. In the long simmering afterwards, the chestnuts become soft but still keep their shape.
You can use a whole chicken or chicken legs for this braised chicken with chestnuts recipe. You can remove the bones and skin or not, whatever your preference.
Braised Chicken with Chestnuts
Equipment
- 1 wok
- 1 saucepan
Ingredients
- 3 chicken legs or two chicken breasts
- 170 g shelled chestnuts
- 4 shiitake mushrooms stemmed and quartered
- 4 cloves garlic chopped in half
- 10 g ginger about 5 coin-sized slices
- 10 ml light soy sauce
- 5 ml dark soy sauce
- 8 ml oyster sauce
- 2 ml salt (slightly less than ½ tsp) or to taste
- 3 ml sugar (rounded ½ tsp)
- 35 ml cooking oil divided into 1 tbsp (15ml) and 2 tsps (10ml)
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients. Wash the chicken thighs.
- Debone (and skin) the chicken thighs. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Rinse and drain.
- Remove the stems from the mushrooms and cut the caps into pieces. Slice the ginger and garlic.
- Add enough cold water to a saucepan to cover the chestnuts. Add the chestnuts. Bring to a boil over high heat and then cook over medium heat for 1 minute. Drain the water.170 g shelled chestnuts
- Add 15ml of oil to a dry pan, put in the chestnuts, fry them over medium heat until the surface turns golden brown, then pour out and drain the oil.35 ml cooking oil, 170 g shelled chestnuts
- Add 20ml of oil to the pot and put in ginger and garlic.10 g ginger, 35 ml cooking oil, 4 cloves garlic
- After the aroma comes out, add the chicken and fry over high heat until the moisture of the chicken is dry.3 chicken legs
- Use medium heat, add 5ml (1 tsp) dark soy sauce, 10ml (2 tsps) light soy sauce, 8ml (1 ½ tsp) oyster sauce, and 3ml (½ tsp) sugar. Test the flavor, and 2ml salt or to taste. Stir fry evenly.10 ml light soy sauce, 5 ml dark soy sauce, 8 ml oyster sauce, 2 ml salt, 3 ml sugar
- Add chestnuts and mushrooms, stir-fry evenly, then add enough water to cover the ingredients in the pot.4 shiitake mushrooms, 170 g shelled chestnuts
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then continue to simmer over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes until the soup thickens.
- Transfer to a bowl and serve.
Notes
- Soy sauce and oyster sauce have a salty, savory flavor. Add these and then test the broth for saltiness before adding salt.
Nutrition
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