Foodworks

chicken tofu April 5, 2010

This is a Japanese,  sort of chicken stir fry / broth / bowl type dish served with rice for two or three people.  Once the ingredients are cut up, and set aside in bowls ready to go,  the cooking part takes about 15 minutes or so.

Cut up and prepare the main ingredients

• 1 lg chicken breast half, sliced bite size.
• 1 block medium firm tofu cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 large onion sliced thin
• 2-3 dried shitake mushrooms softened  in 3/4 C water
• 1 C  chicken broth
• optional – vegetable greens, sliced (cabbage, watercress, green onions, broccoli, etc)
• 1 can of  ”sukiyaki no tomo” – a combination of bamboo shoots, button mushrooms, and long rice, drained

Sauce

• 1/3 C shoyu
• 4 t sugar
• 1/3 C sake, beer, wine, or water
• 2″ x 1″ x 1/4″  piece of ginger, sliced fine or crushed

Start the rice, put the dried mushrooms into the water in a bowl, make the sauce, and start cutting. Pour some of the sauce over the chicken to marinate.  In a wok or large frying pan, heat some olive oil to  saute the onions until they are caramelized, add any crispy vegetables and stir fry on medium to medium low heat for a few minutes.  If the ingredients start to  look dry and hot, add a little broth or water.  Add the chicken to cook for a minute or so, then add the broth and the rest of the shoyu sauce.  By now the mushrooms should have absorbed enough water to be tender – slice and add to the pan along with the mushroom water.  All that liquid added to the pan drops the temperature.  Cook a minute or so, then add the tofu and allow to simmer in the broth.  Add any fast cooking vegetables last.  We’re trying to get the chicken just cooked and the vegetables tender at the same time.   When the chicken is done, the dish is ready to serve in bowls, with rice.

For something extra, add a raw egg to the steaming hot bowl and serve.