Clay-Pot Chicken in Oyster Sauce

Submitted by Hey Jude

"This dish is terrific on a cold winter night. I got the recipe from "A Spoonful of Ginger" by Nina Simonds. Also, I like the way the chicken is browned in step 2 and use that method whenever I have a recipe that calls for browning chicken. Prep time includes marinating time."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 45mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• Marinade

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine or 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 4 whole scallions, ends trimmed, cut into 1 inch lengths
• 2 inches chunk fresh ginger, peeled, then cut into 6 slices
• 3 1⁄2 - 4 lbs chicken pieces, rinsed and drained
• 10 dried Chinese black mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes until soft, stems removed, caps cut into thirds

• Braising Sauce

• 1 1⁄2 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 3 tablespoons rice wine or 3 tablespoons sake
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch, about, dissolved in
• 1 tablespoon water

directions

1. Mix the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, add the chicken pieces and turn to coat them with the marinade.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and let the chicken marinate for 30 minute or longer in the refrigerator.
3. Preheat oven to 475° Arrange the chicken pieces, with the marinade and the drained black mushrooms, on cookie sheets lined with aluminum foil.
4. Roast for 15 minutes, turning once, until the skin is golden. Remove.
5. Transfer the browned chicken and mushrooms to a clay pot, dutch oven, or a casserole with a lid. Add the braising sauce and heat until the liquid is boiling.
6. Reduce the heat to medium, partially cover, and cook for 45 minutes, until the meat is very tender.
7. Skim any fat from the surface.
8. The sauce should be slightly thick. If it hasn't thickened sufficiently, heat until boiling, add a little cornstarch dissolved in water, and cook, stirring, until the sauce has a smooth coating consistency.
9. Scoop the chicken and sauce onto a serving platter or serve from the pot.
10. Steamed rice and a vegetable go good with this dish.

Reviews

[mianbao]

We enjoyed this dish, but would prefer more scallions and mushrooms than called for. Actually, I tried adding more and it's good, but the flavor got rather diluted. I think that if I add about 1 tablespoon more oyster sauce, I can keep the extra vegetables and the flavor will be perfect. Thank you for a very good recipe.

 

[BeachGirl]

WOW, this was just delicious. Chicken was very tender and sauce had a delightful depth of flavor. Since I'm not eating rice right now, I poured broth in a bowl, cut up chicken and mushrooms )I used shitake)and had the BEST soup! Atkins would be proud of this recipe! I will be making this often. Thanks, Jude.

 

[Maito]

I took the other reviewers' advice and increased the shiitake mushrooms (to 5 oz.), added carrots and doubled the oyster sauce. I also halved the chicken and broth, and left all the other ingredients as is to boost the flavor. And it was delicious. It would also be great made this way without the meat for vegetarians, you could add tofu or veggie crumbles at the end.

 

[FLKeysJen]

Really good! I love the browning and clay pot process. I agree with mianbao that it could use more veggies and more flavor to the sauce - next time I'll try more oyster sauce since my shao xing wine overpowered it.