INTRODUCTION
When I was in Shanghai, my helper in Shanghai used to cook this dish. That is how I get to know this ..
Over here, most chestnut was paired with pig trotters due to its long cooking hours. Pairing with chicken is something that I am surprised and it tastes so well. Well the challenge to cook the dish is to make sure that the chestnut maintain in whole yet is soft and melt in the mouth. The same is with the chicken. Chicken cooked rather fast, Therefore, certain treatment is need for the chestnut to shorten its cooking time..
While I was doing some marketing yesterday, I saw some vacuumed packed chestnuts. It was priced reasonably at about S$4.00. Immediately that comes to my mind is this dish. If you can’t get hold of the fresh vacuumed packed chestnuts, you can always get the dried one and soak overnight, par boiled for 10 minutes on the next day to take off all the unwanted skins attached to the nut before cooking.
Preparation is not tough and family likes it. My boy who ate chestnut for the very first time feedback to me that the nuts are soft and sweet. Yes, in fact, chestnut is very sweet in its self.
“板栗烧鸡,是一道汉族名菜,属东北菜、川菜、湘菜等。主要材料为带骨鸡肉、板栗肉。这道菜的特点是补脾胃、强筋骨、止泄泻。一般人群均可食用,老人、病人、体弱者更宜食用。板栗烧鸡营养丰富,又有一定疗效。成品具有鸡肉鲜滑、板栗香甜、汁浓醇厚、色泽红亮、美观大方的特点。”(source:http://baike.baidu.com/view/118748.htm)
WHAT IS REQUIRED
Servings: 3-4 adult servings
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500 grams of chicken drumsticks, cut into 1 inch cubes
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250 grams of chestnuts
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2 cm of ginger , sliced
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3 cloves of garlics , sliced
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3 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
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1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce
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1 tablespoon of sugar
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Dashes of white pepper
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Pinches of salt
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1 tablespoon of corn flour mixed with 3 tablespoons of water.
STEPS OF PREPARATION
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Put some water in a pan, bring to boil, add the chestnuts and let it boiled for at least 5 minutes under high heat. Drain and set aside.
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In another frying pan, put some cooking oil and deep fry the chestnuts for at least 5 minutes under medium heat. Ensure that the chestnuts are properly drained before deep frying. Drain the chestnuts and keep the oil in the frying pan.
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Deep fry the chicken cubes for 1-2 minutes. It is consider as done when the exterior turns beige. Drain and keep 1 tablespoon of oil in the frying pan.
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Sauté the ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add the chicken and chestnuts, follow by the dark soya sauce and Chinese cooking wine, stir fry until well mixed. Add about 1 – 2 cups of water, use medium heat to simmer the chicken and chestnuts until the chicken are soft. If water dries up too quickly, add more water. Add starches, white pepper, pinches of salt and sugar, once the starches turn transparent, off the heat and let the dish to sit on the frying pan for at least another 15 minutes before serving. Best served with steaming white rice.
CONCLUSION
This Chinese household dish will be classified under simple home cooked food series. I hope via sharing more simple recipes, it will provide readers with more choices in the dinner table.
Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.