This recipe is was adapted from my late mom’s braised chicken recipe. I absolutely love lotus root, and here in Singapore, they usually come cleaned, and mud free which saves prep time!
This recipe is one of the best lotus root dishes I’ve made and tasted, perfectly savoury, hearty and comforting.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Difficulty level: 2/5
Ingredients
- 500 grams lotus root, sliced
- 350 grams chicken
- 1 large potato
- 7-8 pieces medium sized shiitake mushrooms
- 6 dried chillies, rinsed
- 1 thumb of ginger, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 tablespoons dark soya sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon mirin
- 2 cups water/stock
- Sesame seed oil to finish
- Salt and white pepper to taste
- Chopped spring onion and sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
Preparation
Rinse and scrub the lotus root, especially if mud is still present on the skin, as I mentioned, the lotus roots here are thoroughly cleaned when I get them so I just give ’em a quick rinse.
Peel the skin off the lotus root, just use a regular peeler, it should come right off. There may be some parts of the roots that’s a little hard to peel off, just use a spoon or paring knife to scrape it off. Once peeled, slice the roots up about 1/2 cm in thickness.
Peel the potato and chop it up into medium chunks. Slice the mushrooms into halves, you can use dried or fresh. If you’re using dried, just rehydrate them and reserve the water to add into the braising liquid.
For the chicken, I would recommend just buying chicken pieces, preferably with bone on, for maximum flavour! Chicken thighs, wings, drumlets, whichever you prefer.
Peel and smash the garlic, then slice the ginger. Use a spoon to remove the ginger skin if you don’t like the idea of ginger skin being in your food.
Onto the cooking!
First, throw in the ginger, garlic, and dried chillies into a heated pot with oil.
Once fragrant, add in the chicken, brown the chicken, don’t mix it around too much. Season with a little salt. Season every layer, people! It’s important for flavour development.
Throw in the lotus root and potatoes. Add in the soy sauces, oyster sauce and mirin. Mix well, and add the water/shiitake soaking water. Taste to see if the sauces have enough salinity to your liking, add in the sugar.
Let the whole thing boil for 20 minutes, and then simmer till the lotus root has cooked through, and the chicken is tender. Add the white pepper last and simmer for a bit more.
If you want the sauce to be thicker, mix corn flour/potato starch with tepid water and add into the pot.
Drizzle on some sesame oil at the end of the cooking process, garnish with sesame seeds and spring onions.
The dish is best served with our favourite carb, rice.
Do adjust the salt and spice levels accordingly, I like mine a little spicier as it gives the dish a little more depth.
If you feel the need to reduce or increase any of the sauces used, do as you deem fit. Remember that to add ingredients that have strong flavours gradually cause you don’t want it to be overbearing and potentially destroy a dish.
For vegetarians, you could replace the chicken with firm tofu! It’ll taste just as good. For an additional flavour boost, use more shiitake mushroom stock from rehydrating them, or vegetable stock cubes.
Do email me at thehantamcook@gmail.com or reach out to me @thehantamcook on Instagram if you have questions!
Enjoy!
The Hantam Cook 