5. Umani (Japanese Stew with Vegetables with Chicken)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken thighs-fat removed and cut into pieces
- 2 cups each, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces:
- daikon-long white radish
- carrots
- satoimo-small taro potatoes
- renkon-lotus root
- gobo-burdock root
- kabocha pumpkin
- shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut in half
- 1/2 lb. sugar snap peas
- 2 packages Quickie Nishime Konbu
Optional
- 1/2 konnyaku-yam cake-sliced and shaped
- 1 cup takenoko-bamboo shoots, sliced
Seasonings:
- 1/4 cup shoyu
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 1 teaspoon bonito flavored dashi-soup stock
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons sake
- 1 to 2 cups water
Instructions
- Wash, peel and cut all vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Put the daikon and carrots into one bowl, and the satoimo and kabocha into another.
- Immerse the processed packaged vegetables–renkon, takenoko and/or konnyaku into boiling water for a minute to freshen them, drain, cool and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Put the gobo and renkon in a bowl and cover with water, it keeps them a nice color. Then put the shiitake, kabocha and optional takenoko & konnyaku on top since you’re going to put them in at the same time.
- Cook the chicken pieces in a large pot, then add the water, sake, sugar, dashi stock, mirin and shoyu. Add the daikon and carrots and gently simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, checking for tenderness. When they’re almost done, add the kabocha and satoimo, simmer gently for 5 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring the pot to a boil again and turn the heat down to simmer and cook for 10 minutes until satoimo and kabocha are fork tender.
- Taste and adjust seasonings.
- String the sugar snap peas and put them into boiling water just until they turn bright green, then drain, put into ice water, drain and set aside.
- Garnish with sugar snap peas in individual bowls.
