Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms

Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms

　　Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms is a famous Northeastern Chinese dish made by stewing dried mushrooms, chicken, and cellophane noodles together. The best mushrooms for stewing chicken are wild hazel mushrooms—those with thin stems and small, flat caps—which bring out the maximum umami of the chicken. It's truly a wild delicacy from the mountains. Among Northeastern dishes, it's one of the few home-style dishes that can rival high-end cuisine from other regions.

　　Main Ingredients

　　750–1000g young chicken, 75g mushrooms (preferably hazel mushrooms for Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms (Photo 2))

　　Seasonings

　　Scallions, ginger, dried red chili peppers, star anise, soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, sugar, cooking oil

　　Steps

　　1. Clean the young chicken and chop it into small pieces;

　　2. Soak the mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes, then rinse and set aside;

　　3. Heat a pan, add a small amount of oil, and when the oil is hot, stir-fry the chicken pieces until they change color. Then add scallions, ginger, star anise, dried red chili peppers, salt, soy sauce, sugar, and cooking wine, stirring to blend the colors evenly. Add some water and simmer for about 10 minutes, then add the mushrooms. Simmer over medium heat for 30–40 minutes until done.

　　The soil of the Hulunbuir Grassland is chestnut calcium soil, which is suitable for the growth of white mushrooms. These white mushrooms are thick-fleshed, flavorful, fragrant, tender, and renowned both domestically and abroad. During our time on the grassland, we enjoyed them twice to our heart’s content. At the ranch, we prepared them using a simple cooking method—stewing chicken with dried mushrooms. The flavor and texture were indeed exquisite, surpassing any other variety of mushrooms.