Monday, October 7, 2013

rice wine chicken 黄酒鸡

I must confess that I do not know a lot about Hakka cuisine. I know that the Hakka are famous for their abacus beads dishes (算盘子), their use of preserved vegetables and their stuffed toufu dishes (酿豆腐). That is about all I know.

When I saw a copy of "Truly Hakka Delights" by Chong Moi Eng, I was curious enough to pick it up to take a quick look. I ended up buying the book, because there were quite a few easy and interesting recipes that caught my eye.


This is the first recipe I tried from this book, and I have to say that I am really pleased with the result. What I really like about Hakka cuisine is the use of very few ingredients. This makes it so much easier to prep and cook!

I began by shredding the ginger thinly. 



Into a heated wok, I added sesame oil. Once the oil was hot, I added the ginger and cooked it for about 2 minutes, or until the the ginger was fragrant. Then the garlic was added and stir-fried for about 30 seconds.




I added the chicken that had been cut into small pieces.


 

I stirred the chicken for about a minute or so, then I added the black fungus and mushrooms.



I continued to stir-fry the chicken, black fungus and mushrooms for about 3 more minutes, then I added rice wine and water.





As well as salt, sugar and dark soy sauce. The wok was covered, and the chicken was allowed to braise until they were cooked through, and the sauce had thickened. I periodically gave the chicken a stir, and checked to ensure that the liquid did not evaporate completely.

Once the chicken was cooked through, I checked the seasonings and served it immediately, with rice.



Simple, yet delicious.

RECIPE
Rice Wine Chicken (Serves 4)
Adapted from "Truly Hakka Delights" by Chong Moi Eng

Ingredients:
1 chicken, chopped into chunks
2 cups rice wine
2 cups water
1 piece ginger, shredded
2 tsp garlic, minced
4-6 pieces black fungus, re-hydrated and cut into small pieces
6 pieces Chinese shitake mushroom, re-hydrated and stems removed
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tsp salt,
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp grounded white pepper

Method:
1. Heat oil, add ginger. Fry until ginger is fragrant. Add garlic and fry an additional 30 seconds.
2. Add chicken, fry for about a minute.
3. Add black fungus and mushrooms.
4. Fry for another 3 minutes. Add rice wine and water, as well as the seasonings.
5. Cover wok, braise chicken until all the chicken is cooked through.
6. Serve hot, with rice.

I am submitting this recipe for Cook-Your-Books hosted by Kitchen Flavours.




4 comments:

  1. Hi Diana,
    I love Hakka dishes but like you, do not know much about it either! Your chicken dish looks so delicious, one that I would enjoy with a plate (or two!) of rice!
    Thanks for linking to CYB!
    Your lemongrass chicken dish was one of the featured post!

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  2. Hi Diana,
    I can't cook but I envy those who can cook.
    This really looks so delicious!


    ReplyDelete