Simmered Chicken and Vegetables
The Quirky Foodster Team
Ingredients
Method
- Warm the oil in a heavy pot and brown the chicken pieces.
- Add the onion and cook until softened.
- Add the potato and carrot, and stir to coat.
- Pour in the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar.
- Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 25-30 minutes, until the vegetables and meat are tender and the sauce has thickened.
- Serve hot.
Introduction: Meat simmered with potato and other vegetables in a sweet-savoury broth, a comforting home-style stew developed toward the later Edo period.
Cultural Background: This style of savoury-sweet simmered dish reflects the broader Japanese culinary tradition of nimono (simmered dishes), a technique refined over many centuries and applied here with vegetables and meat that became more widely available toward the end of the feudal era.
Tips: Simmer gently rather than at a rolling boil, so the potato pieces stay intact rather than breaking apart.
Variations: Beef can be used in place of chicken for an equally traditional variation.
Nutrition: Approx. 340 kcal per serving.
FAQs:
Q: What does ‘nimono’ refer to?
A: A broad category of Japanese simmered dishes, typically combining a savoury-sweet broth with vegetables and sometimes meat or fish, refined over centuries of Japanese home cooking.
Q: Was meat commonly eaten throughout Japanese feudal history?
A: Meat consumption varied significantly by period and social class, with some periods seeing religious and cultural restrictions on eating meat, particularly beef, before greater availability developed later in the era.
- Chicken thigh, cut into bite-sized pieces — 400 g (14.1 oz)
- Potatoes, cut into chunks — 3
- Carrot, cut into chunks — 1
- Onion, sliced — 1
- Oil — 2 tbsp
- Dashi broth — 500 ml (2 cups)
- Soy sauce — 4 tbsp
- Mirin — 3 tbsp
- Sugar — 2 tbsp
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