This recipe for Chinese chicken and potato stew is the ultimate comfort food. I've never seen it available for order at the menu of a restaurant but it is available at my favorite bian dang (lunchbox) place Shau May in Los Angeles (in San Gabriel Valley).
Here you can choose it as the entree in one of your three item choices, paired with a rice and soup, all for less than $7 (cash-only). I always thought it was some kind of Chinese curry, but its just a stew!
Here's how you make it.
First make sure you marinate your chicken. At least 30 minutes or more, but 15 minutes works in a pinch also. I like to mix it with my hands, mix the chicken with the salt, cornstarch, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
Then go ahead and dice all of your vegetables into bite-sized pieces. The shape doesn't really matter, just make the size similar for all of the veggies, so its a consistent bite while you're eating it with rice.
Boil the water for the dish while you're preparing the next steps.
Next heat the wok up until its hot on high heat and then add the vegetable oil. Once the vegetable oil is hot enough (when you drip a drop of water into the pan it splatters), sauté the chicken to get the golden brown color. Approximately one minute per side will do it. Remove the chicken from the pan
Next, quickly stirfry the garlic until fragrant and then add onions and saute until soft which will take about two minutes. Set it aside with the chicken
Add the potatoes and carrots to the pan and cook on high heat for 5 minutes to soften. Watch so that the vegetables don't burn. Add everything back to the pan and mix well.
Grab the water that you've been boiling and add it to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and cover to simmer for about 10 minutes. Check periodically to make sure that the water doesn't evaporate. If it does, top it off with about 1/4 cup of water (doesn't need to be boiled)
Stir in oyster sauce and soy sauce, cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
Mix in cornstarch slurry. Let it cook to up to 5 minutes more to get your desired gravy consistently. Serve immediately with rice!
Chinese Potato and Chicken Stew
Ingredients
MARINADE
- 2 chicken thighs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp cornstarch
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large potato
- 1 carrot
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 cup boiled water
- 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
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First marinate the chicken with the salt, soy sauce, cornstarch, and sesame oil for at least 15 minutes
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Prepare the vegetables, dice the potatos, carrots, onions, and garlic into whatever shape that you prefer
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Boil water
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Heat the wok, then add vegetable oil
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On high heat, brown both sides of the chicken (1 minute per side)
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Stirfry garlic briefly until fragrant, then add onions and saute until soft (2 minutes). Set aside
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Add potatoes and carrots, cook for 5 minutes, watching carefully
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Add chicken, onions, and garlic back into the pan and fry for a minute
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Add boiled water, turn heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Watch to make sure water doesn't evaporate, if it does, top it off with 1/4 cup of water
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Stir in oyster sauce and soy sauce. Cover to cook for another 5 minutes
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Mix in cornstarch slurry slowly until sauce thickens. Cook uncovered for another 5 minutes or until you reach desired consistency. Serve over rice!
