Name: Soy-braised Chicken and Mushrooms
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings as a main dish or 8 servings as part of a multicourse meal
Cuisine: Hakka
Ingredients: ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper, or to taste; 3 green onions, including green tops, cut into 2-inch lengths; 2 tablespoons minced garlic; 3 tablespoons Sweet soy sauce, homemade, or purchased kecap manis (see note); 3 tablespoons thinly slivered fresh ginger; 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste; 12 dried shiitake mushrooms, each about 2 inches wide; 3½ cups hot water, or as needed

Preparation info

Makes
4 to 6
servings as a main dish

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Hakka Cookbook

By Linda Anusasananan

Published 2012

About

This is a popular stew with several variations in the Hakka repertoire. Dark, meaty mushrooms, chicken, and pungent ginger braise in sweet soy sauce for a mahogany-hued stew. My mother used dark soy sauce and sugar to achieve the traditional glossy sauce on pieces of bone-in chicken. Fah uses kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), popular in her home in Indonesia, on boneless chunks of chicken thighs.