I definitely have an affinity to easy Chinese recipes for braises, especially in winter. A quick braise that tastes like a dish my mother used to prepare? Even better. This dish comes from the cookbook Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking by Fuchsia Dunlop. Intrigued by the author’s name, I peeked at her bio, which contained pretty impressive stuff.
She was the first Westerner to train as a chef in central China. Dunlop spent decades learning, cooking and eating her way through China. Her love and affinity for Chinese food was easily felt in her writing. The descriptions of the simple, country food she sampled from grandmothers tables had me salivating. I also liked how she compared Chinese cuisine to the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes plants and vegetables with only a small percentage of protein being fish and meat. A very healthy cuisine indeed.
A cookbook and easy Chinese recipe after my own heart.
As I worked my way through the book, I was impressed to see how simplistic some of the recipes were. They reminded me of how my mom, an immigrant vietnamese mother, could rustle up an amazing meal with what seemed like nothing and in no time flat. What has always impressed me with her everyday cooking is how she can pack so much flavor into soups and broths in such a short amount of time. A stark contrast to the French technique of making bone broths and stocks simmered for hours.
When I saw Dunlop’s recipe for braised chicken with dried shiitake mushrooms, I was immediately reminded of two dishes from childhood. One was Vietnamese caramelized chicken and the other was soy braised pork belly and eggs. The pork belly is a huge favorite. This dish takes a long simmer time to get that fall apart texture everyone loves and maybe a special trip to a store that sells pork belly. Definitely worth it but more so on the weekends.
A compromise with braised chicken thighs for a quick, easy meal.
What’s a good weekday trade off for pork belly? Chicken thighs. I love chicken thighs and will take that over chicken breasts almost every chance I can get. Seeing that this easy Chinese recipe only takes about thirty minutes, I thought adding boiled eggs to it might work really well. The eggs probably wouldn’t get as salty in this braise as it would in the long simmered pork dish, but that was ok with me.
This recipe is a combination of three ingredients I really love: chicken thighs, shiitake mushrooms and eggs. The results were great! Tender, salty-sweet chicken with so much savoriness from the dried shiitake mushrooms. The mushrooms themselves have such a nice, meaty texture. I can envision this recipe being vegetarian by using just mushrooms and eggs. To complete the meal, some simple steamed rice and quickly stir-fried greens or broccoli with garlic would be perfect. A satisfying, easy weeknight meal.
Easy Chinese Braised Chicken, Eggs and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 4 large eggs
- 2 scallions
- 1 thumb size piece fresh ginger (20 grams)
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1/2-3/4 lbs)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil (such as canola)
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine (or sherry)
- 1 tbsp brown or white sugar
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp salt, kosher (or to taste)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Method
- Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil. Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl. Cover with the boiling water and place something like a small saucer on top to keep them submerged. Allow the mushrooms to soak for 30 minutes.
- Fill a small saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Gently lower the eggs into the pot. As soon as the water starts to bubble again, set a timer for six minutes. After cooking, drain and immediately flush eggs well with cold water or place eggs into an ice bath. When eggs are cool, peel and set aside.
- Slice scallions into 2″ lengths and separate the white and green parts. Crush the white part slightly with the side of knife. Peel the ginger and slice into 1/4″ slices. Set aside.
- Slice the chicken into 1/2″ thick slices. Drain the mushrooms, reserving slightly more than 1 cup (200 ml) of the mushroom soaking liquid. Remove the stems and slice mushrooms into thick 1/4″ slices. Set aside.
- Heat a wok over high heat. When hot, add the oil, swirl, then add the chicken. Stir-fry for a few minutes until chicken is almost cooked through and has a little color. Add the scallion whites and ginger. Stir-fry for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add the shaoxing wine, stir a few times, then add the mushrooms, mushroom soaking water, sugar, dark soy and salt. Nestle in the eggs, bring to a boil and cover the pan. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Gently stir the meat and rotate the eggs occasionally. This will ensure the eggs are evenly colored.
- After cooking, reduce the liquid, if desired, by simmering over high heat without the lid on for two minutes. Add the scallion greens and sesame oil. Serve with plain, steamed rice.
Notes
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That chicken sounds amazing!
This looks delicious!! Yum!!!!
Thank you so much!
Thanks Melissa!
That looks great! Thanks for posting! I’m curious, what brand of Wok are you using? It seems a good size for a small family like ours. Thanks!
Hi Sydney! It’s a T-fal 11″ non-stick wok that I’ve had forever. Here’s one I found online that looks very similar: https://www.wellindal.com/kitchen/tefal/p-250989?r=3168430237919&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnY_jBRDdARIsAIEqpJ3fBckdlTtGBE9jMER0pf9plazgQVg5VnwrZghi4fWp36lIs3Pa1eMaArFZEALw_wcB
Hope you try the recipe!
So delicious! I made with Korean sweet potato noodles:)chicken and mushrooms 🍄 are awesome! thank you for sharing and happy birthday!
That’s a good add-in ingredient too! Yum, I’ll have to try that. Thanks for the birthday wishes!