Authentic Chinese Diner - Yellow Braised Chicken (黄焖鸡)

Yellow Braised Chicken or Huang Men Ji (黄焖鸡 in Chinese) is a very famous dish in China, which originally starts from Jinan City, Shandong Province and spreads throughout the whole country since the first decade of the 21st century. Now, there are thousands of Huang Men Ji restaurants all over China, like Whataburger in Texas.

Chicken in this dish is fresh & juicy as well as tender in texture. It can be spicy or even super hot if you prefer. Meanwhile, it takes a relatively short time to prepare and cook. Alright, here is the recipe of this delicious meal.

Ingredients:

[1] 2 lbs Chicken (bone or boneless)

[2] 10 dry Shiitake Mushroom

[3] 5 Green Pepper

[4] 1/2 Carrot

[5] 5 Scallion (white part)

[6] 5 slices Ginger Root

[7] 4 medium garlic

[8] 1 tsp Sugar

[9] 1 tsp Chinese Rice Cooking Wine

[10] 2 tsp Light Soy Sauce

[11] 1 tsp dark soy sauce

[12] 1 tsp Salt

[13] 1 tsp Oyster Sauce

[14] 2 tsp Flour

[15] 2 tsp Oil

For your preference:

[15] 1/2 oz Cilantro

[16] Some Spicy Red Pepper or Pepper Powder

Instructions:

[a] Clean chicken, cut it into 1-inch pieces; Add in ginger root slices [6], light soy sauce [11], salt [12], oyster sauce [13], flour [14]; Mix well and leave it for 20 mins.

[b] Clean and peel scallion [5], ginger root [6] and garlic [7].

[c] Clean shiitake mushrooms [2] and foam them in water; Clean green pepper [3] and slice into 1/2-inch pieces; Clean, peel and cut carrot [4] into slices.

[d] Heat oil [15] in a pot, add in prepared scallion, ginger root and garlic (from step [b]) and fry them slightly 1/2 - 1 min).

[e] Add in prepared chicken (from step [a])and stir fry until chicken is coated with browned sugar.

[f] Add in prepared shiitake mushrooms and carrot (from step [c]) and keep stir-frying for 1-2 mins.

[g] Add in some more salt, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar and keep stir-frying for 1-2 mins.

[h] Add in boiling water till more than half chicken pieces are under water. Keep median fire, put on the lid and let simmer for 20 - 30 mins.

[i] Once most water in the pot has been steamed out, add in prepared green pepper (and spicy red pepper/pepper powder/cilantro for your preference); keep stir-frying for 1-2 mins.

[j] Done! Serve with steam rice!