Chikuzenni (Japanese Simmered Chicken and Root Vegetables)
Cuisine: Japanese
Region: 福岡県
Servings: 4人分
Chikuzenni (Japanese Simmered Chicken and Root Vegetables) is a home-style meat dish. Stir-frying the chicken and vegetables in oil first is what defines chikuzenni. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
Ingredients
- Chicken thigh 1 piece (about 250 g)
- Burdock root 1/2 (80 g)
- Lotus root 100 g
- Carrot 1/2 (80 g)
- Taro 4 (about 200 g)
- Dried shiitake mushrooms 4
- Konnyaku 1/2 block (120 g)
- Green beans (or snow peas) 6
- Vegetable oil 1 tbsp
- Shiitake soaking liquid 100 ml
- Dashi 200 ml
- Sugar 2 tbsp
- Sake 2 tbsp
- Mirin 2 tbsp
- Soy sauce 3 tbsp
Steps
- Soak the dried shiitake in 200 ml of water in the refrigerator for half a day (or overnight) to rehydrate. Remove the stems and cut in half. Set aside 100 ml of the soaking liquid.
- Trim excess fat from the chicken and cut it into 3 cm cubes. Scrape the skin off the burdock and cut it into rolling wedges; peel the lotus root and cut it into rolling wedges, then soak each in water. Cut the carrot into rolling wedges; peel the taro and halve any large pieces.
- Tear the konnyaku into bite-size pieces with a spoon and parboil for about 3 minutes. Boil the green beans in salted water and cut them into 3 cm lengths.
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat, add the chicken skin side down and cook until browned. Add the burdock, lotus root, carrot, taro, konnyaku and shiitake and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes until everything is coated in oil.
- Add the shiitake soaking liquid, dashi, sake and sugar. When it boils, skim off the scum, cover with a drop lid and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
- Add the mirin and soy sauce, replace the drop lid and simmer for 10–15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- Remove the drop lid, raise the heat to medium and, shaking the pot, cook until the liquid is almost gone and everything is glossy. Serve in bowls and scatter the green beans on top.
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Notes
Stir-frying the chicken and vegetables in oil first is what defines chikuzenni. It adds richness and keeps the ingredients from falling apart.
The shiitake soaking liquid is packed with umami. Always use it as part of the stock.
Cutting the ingredients into rolling wedges of the same size helps them cook evenly and look attractive when served.
The flavors soak in as it cools, so it is a good idea to make it the day before. It keeps for about 3 days in the refrigerator.
Origin and history
Chikuzenni is a dish of chicken, burdock, lotus root, carrot, taro, shiitake and more, stir-fried in oil and then simmered in a sweet-salty broth. "Chikuzen" is the old provincial name for what is now northwestern Fukuoka Prefecture, where it began as a local specialty.
In Fukuoka it is also called "gameni". One theory says the name comes from "gamekurikomu", Hakata dialect for "to gather together". Another story says that during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea, soldiers gathered whatever they could find and simmered it with soft-shell turtle ("dobugame" in the Hakata dialect), and that this was the origin.
It is said to have originally used turtle, but in time chicken became the norm. Passed down as a feast served at gatherings such as New Year osechi, festivals, weddings and funerals, it is now a staple simmered dish made in homes all over Japan.