Home / All Recipes / Chinese / Braised Chicken and Shiitake in Soy Sauce
Braised Chicken and Shiitake in Soy Sauce
Serve this classic Chinese chicken and shiitake mushroom dish cooked in soy sauce for special events, like Chinese New Year. This recipe is easy for new cooks too.
Braised chicken and shiitake in soy sauce is a very classic Chinese dish, and every Chinese household probably knows how to cook it.
Although it is super easy to make this, I have seen this served on festive occasions, like Chinese New Year and weddings. I know my Mom always prepares this for Chinese New Year in my family, so it is also something I now make to celebrate CNY with my family.
Ingredients for braised chicken and shiitake in soy sauce
1. Chicken
My Mom usually cooks this dish with a whole chicken and cut it up into 8-12 pieces. If you have a butcher, you can get your butcher to do this for you when you buy your chicken.
You can also use just chicken drumsticks and thighs, which will make the dish juicier. Please make sure that the total weight is about the same as the average weight of a whole chicken, which is around 3 to 5 lbs (or 1.5 kg to 3 kg).
2. Shiitake
Please use dried shiitake for this dish since we will also need to use the soaking liquid.
If you are going to use fresh shiitake, please substitute the soaking liquid with the same amount of chicken stock. The dish will still be great, just not as flavorful as the one using shiitake soaking liquid.
3. Aromatics: garlic and ginger
4. Oil: neutral oil (e.g. canola, peanut, or vegetable) and sesame oil
5. Sauces: Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, kecap manis
Shaoxing wine is Chinese rice wine. You can also substitute with Japanese sake or dry sherry. If you cannot use any alcohol in cooking, feel free to substitute it with the same amount of chicken stock or water.
If you have, please use light soy sauce, such as Pearl River Bridge or Kimlan. You can also use Kikkoman but I prefer the flavor of this dish when using Chinese style soy sauce to prepare it.
Kecap manis is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce. There is no good substitute for it, but in a pinch, you can combine 50% soy sauce with 50% coconut palm sugar.
6. Other: salt, pepper, sugar, and cornstarch
Step-by-step to cook the dish
1. Prepare shiitake
Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in cold water overnight until soft and spongy. Reserve 1 cup of the soaking liquid, cut away the shiitake stems and cut each shiitake into four wedges.
2. Fry aromatics
Heat cooking oil and sesame oil in a pot, fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add chicken and mushrooms
Add chicken pieces and cook until no longer pink. Add shiitake mushroom and 1 cup of the soaking liquid and bring to a boil.
4. Add sauces
Add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, kecap manis, salt, pepper, and sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, until chicken is tender and fully cooked. Pour the cornstarch slurry and stir for 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce is thick.
5. Serve
Turn off heat, and serve immediately with steamed white rice.
Other suitable dishes to celebrate Chinese New Year
If you are menu planning for a Chinese New Year dinner party, you may want to check out the following recipes as well:
Braised Chicken and Shiitake in Soy Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken cut into 8-12 pieces / 4 chicken quarters cut into 8 pieces
- 8 dried shiitake
- 4 inch (~ 50 gram) ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce (Indonesian: kecap manis)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- cornstarch slurry (2 teaspoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water)
Instructions
- Prepare shiitake: Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in cold water overnight until soft and spongy. Reserve 1 cup of the soaking liquid, cut away the shiitake stems and cut each shiitake into four wedges.
- Fry aromatics: Heat cooking oil and sesame oil in a pot, fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add chicken and mushrooms: Add chicken pieces and cook until no longer pink. Add shiitake mushroom and 1 cup of the soaking liquid and bring to a boil.
- Add sauces: Add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, kecap manis, salt, pepper, and sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, until chicken is tender and fully cooked. Pour the cornstarch slurry and stir for 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce is thick.
- Serve: Turn off heat, and serve immediately with steamed white rice.
Comments
This recipe sounds fantastic! I love the use of Shiitake mushrooms, they add such great flavour and texture. Thanks for sharing! -Shannon
Thanks for the lovely comment Shannon. I hope you will give the recipe a try :)
Seems like a nice recipe. I will give it a try tonight
Thank you for checking out the blog Martin. I hope you will like the dish :)
Well, I made the dish and we all loved it. I made a little variation to it: I used soy sauce and the ketcap and added one tablespoon of mushroom flavoured soy sauce( Perl river bridge brand).I served it with steamed rice as suggested and sprinkled some chopped spring onions over it. I also replaced the Chinese wine with sherry since I couldn't get the original. I am going to try one of your Indonesian recipies coming week. I hope it is a good as this one was. - Martin
Thanx for the recipe Anita ^^ I already cooked twice My kids n husband love it When the second time, i replaced the dried shiitake with the fresh one ^^ Can't wait to try another recipe Thanx Anita
This is definitely a delicious One Pot Meal. Healthy and nutritious too.
This looks delicious. Thank you for the thorough instructions. I've never made it and feel like I could make it confidently!
Leave a comment