Braised Chicken With Ginger, Fermented Bean Curd And Cloud Fungus 薑片腐乳雲耳燜雞

Oh! Finally I managed to have something ready for posting before another busy weekend ahead. I have been doing quite a bit of cooking but let's start with this simple dish that is now my dear friend M's favourite.

It was meant to be just our usual ginger chicken with rice wine (黃酒薑雞) but I decided to use up some fermented tofu and cloud fungus in the pantry and the result is a dish that got 2 thumbs up from one of the best cooks I know.

P.S fermented bean curd (腐乳) and cloud/wood fungus (雲/木耳) can be found at all good Asian grocers. The former gives the dish a rich umami flavour while the latter absorbs all the goodness it braised in.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen

serves 4 to 6 as part of a Chinese meal

you'll need;

1 free range chicken, chopped into manageable pieces

1 large knob of ginger, sliced

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

a handful of cloud fungus, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, drained and cut into manageable pieces

2 tbs of sesame oil

4 cubes of fermented bean curd with some of the liquid from the jar

4 tbs of oyster sauce

3 tbs of light soy

2 tbs of dark soy

2 tbs of sugar

a dash of chinese cooking wine

a sprinkle of white pepper 

2 cups of water

3 spring onions, cut into 5 cm lengths

corn flour solution for thickening

Soak cloud/wood fungus with hot water for 10 minutes. Drain well and cut into manageable pieces. 

Prepare the ginger, spring onions and garlic.

Cut chicken into manageable pieces.

Pan fry chicken pieces with a little oil until golden and set aside.

Saute ginger and garlic with sesame oil for 30 seconds before returning the chicken into the pot. Add wood fungus, fermented bean curd with the liquid from the jar, seasonings and cook for a minute or two.

Add water and bring the heat to a mere simmer, cover and cook for ~45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Add spring onions and check for seasonings before thicken the sauce with a little corn flour solution.

Serve with plenty of steamed rice and perhaps a simple stir fried greens.