Chikuzenni

Root vegetables fried in oil before any liquid, then simmered down until the pan is nearly dry.

Chicken, Fish. Not vegetarian — contains chicken, fish.

Ingredients

500 g chicken thigh, in chunks
200 g lotus root, in thick rounds
200 g taro, in chunks
1 carrot, rolled-cut
1 burdock root, rolled-cut
6 shiitake, soaked and halved
150 g konnyaku, torn
100 g bamboo shoots
400 ml dashi
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons oil
60 g mangetout, blanched

Method

FRIED IN OIL BEFORE ANY LIQUID, and this is what separates it from an ordinary nimono. Every root goes into hot oil first and is turned until the surfaces look glossy and slightly translucent. That coating keeps each piece distinct through a long simmer instead of letting them go soft and merge.
ROLLED-CUT -- turn the vegetable a quarter after each diagonal cut, so every piece has several faces. More surface means faster absorption and a better-looking bowl, and it is the standard cut for simmered dishes.
Lotus root and burdock into vinegared water the moment they are cut, or both brown.
Konnyaku TORN, not cut, and blanched 2 minutes first. The ragged edges hold the sauce and the blanching takes its smell away.
Chicken browned in the oil first and lifted out.
Roots in, 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until coated and beginning to colour.
Chicken back in. Dashi, sake, sugar and mirin in -- sugar before soy, as elsewhere here.
Drop lid on, simmer 15 minutes. Soy in, another 15.
LID OFF AND REDUCE until the pan is nearly dry and what is left glazes everything. A chikuzenni sitting in broth has not been finished.
Mangetin at the end for colour. Better after a few hours; good cold the next day.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes