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Braised Chicken with Mushrooms
Braised Chicken with Mushrooms
This is some Chinese cuisine that you’ll never find on any menu. Braised chicken wings with shiitake and wood ear mushrooms is a great example of home cooking. This comfort food requires a few ingredients with minimal prep work, all cooked in the same pan, resulting in complex umami flavors. Serve the chicken and mushrooms with steamed rice.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 lbs chicken wings drumette and wingette separated; tips removed
- 4 slices ginger
- 25 small dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in warm water for 2 hours
- 1 cup dried wood ear mushrooms soaked in warm water for an hour
- 1 1/4 cup mushroom soaking water
- 1/4 cup shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tsp dark mushroom soy sauce
- 2 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Soak the shiitake mushrooms for 2 hours; wood ear mushrooms for 1 hour; in warm water. Save 1 1/4 cup of the shiitake soaking water.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large wok or sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the ginger for a minute.
- Toss in the chicken wings and brown for 5 minutes.
- Add in the drained mushrooms. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add in the mushroom soaking water, cooking wine, soy sauces, and sugar. Bring to a boil.
- Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in the green onions.
Duck Noodles with Gravy
Duck Noodles with Gravy
What to do with leftover smoked duck and gravy from Thanksgiving? Sauté it snow peas, red pepper; pour in the gravy and add in egg noodles. This is almost better than the duck itself. If you don’t have any leftovers, you can cook a whole duck from the start and take the meat off. It might take an extra 3+ hours of time, but it will be worth it.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 lbs leftover cooked duck diced
- 4 oz snow peas cut in half
- 1 large red bell pepper cut into strips
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1 large jalapeño thinly sliced
Gravy
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1” ginger minced
- 5 cilantro sprigs
- 2 tbsp fermented soybean paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp five spice powder
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
Instructions
Gravy
- Add the white pepper, garlic, ginger, soybean paste, 5 spice powder, and cilantro to a food processor.
- Process into a paste.
- Cook the paste in a small pot over medium heat for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Continue simmering for 5 minutes until the gravy has thickened. Set aside.
Duck Noodles with Gravy
- Cook your egg noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat up the oil in a wok or large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the duck for 2 minutes.
- Add in the snow peas, bell pepper, green onion, and jalapeños. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the gravy.
- Add in the noodles. Toss in the gravy. Cook for 2 more minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro.
Hokkaido Milk Buns
Hokkaido Milk Buns
Hokkaido milk bread may be of Japanese origins, but it’s eaten all over many Asian countries. The bread can be made in loaf form, free form rolls, braided, filled, or made as pull apart rolls like I did. The bread is fluffy, but dairy heavy, with a milk roux, evaporated milk, and butter add to the dough.
Equipment
- standing mixer with dough hook
- springform pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Whisk 3 tbsp of flour with the whole milk in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook until a thick paste forms. Take off the heat.
- Tranfser the paste into a bowl and whisk in the evaporated milk.
- Whisk in the egg.
- In the bottom of the standing mixer bowl, activate the yeast with 3 tbsp of warm water for 5 minutes until it’s bubbly.
- Add in the flour and the evaporated milk mixture.
- Usinb the dough hook, mix on medium low speed for 2 minutes.
- Once the dough forms, cover the bowl and let rest for 20 minutes.
- After resting, knead the dough on low speed. Sprinkle in the salt and sugar. Continue kneading for 8 minutes.
- Slowly incorporate 1 tbsp of the butter at a time until the dough absorbs it all.
- Drizzle oil over the dough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for an hour.
- Once risen, punch the dough down on a clean surface.
- Roll into a dozen balls.
- Place the dough balls in a well greased springform pan. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Turn the oven down to 350. Put in the pan and bake for 20 minutes.
