Gomoku-ni (Iridori) - Chicken and Vegetables in Soy and Dashi Broth

Gomoku-ni (Iridori) is one of the many traditional Japanese dishes traditionally served during the New Year celebrations.

Even though this is a celebratory dish, Gomoku-ni (Iridori) is widely enjoyed for daily meals. Just step into any Japanese supermarket or wet market, and you will spot boxes of Gomoku-ni (Iridori) for the patrons to take home and enjoy with their meals.

Since Gomoku-ni (Iridori) includes chicken and plenty of vegetables, my family can enjoy a complete and hearty meal with just a bowl of steamed rice and a serving of Gomoku-ni. ♥

Ingredients for Gomoku-ni (Iridori)

We need:

• boneless skinless chicken thigh/breast
• lotus root
• carrot
• daikon
• konnyaku
• shiitake
• dashi stock
• mirin
• sake
• soy sauce
• sugar

Prepping Lotus Root and Shiitake

Lotus Root

If you are using fresh lotus root, be sure to peel and wash the root thoroughly to remove all the dirt trapped between the holes of the root.

Your supermarket may also stock sliced lotus root packets in the fresh produce aisle or their frozen food section. Rinse the sliced roots in cold running water and use them following the recipe.

Shiitake

I use fresh shiitake in the recipe, but you can also use dried shiitake.

Please soften dried shiitakes by soaking the mushrooms in room temperature water for about 4-6 hours or in hot water for about 1-2 hours.

Cut and Boil Each Vegetables

When cooking Gomoku-ni (Iridori), we want all the vegetables to reach a similar state of doneness in the final cooking step. To help us achieve this, we need to boil/simmer each vegetable at a different cooking time.

Start by making sure that each of the vegetables will have a similar size by doing the following:

• Peel lotus root, carrot, daikon, and cut them into 4 cm rounds.
• Cut lotus root rounds and daikon rounds into 2-4 wedges.
• Cut konnyaku into 1-inch sections, and optionally shape each piece into a tazuna knot.
  To create a tazuna knot, cut a 4-cm slit down the center of each konnyaku slice. Carefully push the top of the konnyaku through the slit to form the knot.
• Remove stems from the mushrooms and cut the caps into halves.

Next, we will need to boil the vegetables in a pot of water as follows:

• Simmer lotus root in a pot of water for 30 minutes, drain, and set aside.
• Boil daikon for 3 minutes, drain, and set aside.
• Boil konnyaku for 3 minutes, drain, and set aside.

Once we finish boiling and draining each vegetable, we are ready to cook our Gomoku-ni (Iridori).

How to Cook Gomoku-ni (Iridori)

1. Sauté chicken

Cut chicken into 4 cm cubes. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Sauté chicken with chicken sauce for 2 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pale. Set aside.

2. Sauté vegetables

Heat a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in a pot. Sauté lotus root, daikon, konnyaku, and shiitake for 2 minutes.

3. Cook broth

Add broth sauce ingredients and cook until boiling. Add chicken, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Add carrot

Add carrot, and simmer for another 10 minutes.

5. Add mirin

Add mirin once all the vegetables are soft and tender. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning as needed.