Braised Chicken Wings and Shiitake
Recipe byChinese black mushroom is called shiitake in Japan. I’m using the term shiitake here because it is the more well-known name of the mushroom among English speakers.
Ingredients
- 12 chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 one-inch knob ginger peeled and sliced
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and lightly pounded
- 5 to 6 shiitake mushrooms soaked in hot water until soft, stems cut off and discarded, and caps cut into halves or quarters
- 1 carrot peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup rice wine
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
To thicken the sauce
- 2 teaspoons tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
Instructions
- Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels and cut each into drumette and wingette (save the wing tips for making broth).
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok and saute the garlic and ginger until aromatic.
- Add the mushroom caps and carrot, and continue sauteeing for a minute.
- Dump the chicken into the wok and cook, stirring often, until the meat is no longer pink.
- Pour in the soy sauce, rice wine and oyster sauce. Stir in the sugar.
- Measure a cup of the mushroom soaking water and add to the chicken.
- Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover the wok and braise the chicken and shiitake for about 20 minutes.
- Midway through the cooking, taste the sauce. If it needs more saltiness, add salt (see notes after the recipe). If more sugar is needed for balance, add a pinch or two of sugar.
- Disperse the starch in two tablespoons of water and stir in the sesame seed oil.
- Pour the starch solution into wok and stir until the sauce is thickened and no longer cloudy.
- Scoop the braised chicken wings and shiitake onto a bowl and serve immediately with hot rice.