Young chicken stewed with dried hazel mushrooms, with starch noodles added near the end to soak up the sauce, a home-style winter stew of Northeast China.
A deep white porcelain bowl holds soy-brown chicken pieces with small brown hazel mushrooms and translucent starch noodles in a thick glossy sauce, one star anise on top and wooden chopsticks across the rim.
The regional cooking of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, built on pickled cabbage and stews, generous and strongly flavoured.
Chicken stewed with mushrooms is a home-style stew of Northeast China and among the so-called Four Northeastern Simmerings. Pieces of young chicken are seasoned with soy sauce and stewed with soaked dried hazel mushrooms, with starch noodles added near the end to absorb the sauce. No dated text was found; the claim that it came to the Northeast from Shandong appears in only 1 recipe article and lacks corroboration.
What
Chicken stewed with mushrooms is a home-style stew of Northeast China. Chicken is cut into pieces and stewed in soy sauce with soaked dried hazel mushrooms (zhenmo), and starch noodles are usually added to absorb the sauce. A list of representative Northeast dishes names pheasant with hazel mushrooms, while the recipes use young chicken; this entry follows the chicken version.1,2,4,5
When
No dated text, inventor or year was found for this dish; its claimed journey from Shandong to the Northeast appears in only 1 recipe article, and the broader account of Shandong and Manchu influences on Northeast cooking does not specifically address this dish.2,4,5
Where
The dish comes from Northeast China's 3 provinces: Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang; its city of origin is unspecified. It is tied to the hazel mushrooms of the Northeast mountain forests and is cooked in home kitchens and Northeast restaurants.1,2,3,4,5
How
Chicken pieces are browned or stir-fried, then cooked with aromatics such as scallions and ginger, soy sauce and wine. Hot water and soaked mushrooms go in, and the pot simmers until the chicken is tender, with starch noodles added near the end. Cooking time depends on the bird's maturity, from about 20 minutes to over 1 hour.4,5
Why
It is a warming winter dish and a dish for guests. In a hospitality custom documented in 2016, a new son-in-law is welcomed with this stew on his first visit to his in-laws' home on the 3rd day after the wedding.3,4,5
Impact and influence
It is among the so-called Four Northeastern Simmerings. A 2016 account describes every household in the Northeast as having its own version.2,3
A custom told in the Northeast says that on the third day after a wedding the couple visit the bride's parents, and the family serves a pot of this stew as a sincere welcome. The slippery starch noodles are said to test how well the new son-in-law handles his chopsticks. It is told as a folk custom, not as documented history.
Told in: A Northeast custom described in a January 2016 article in an English-language magazine. It appears in that one article alone, and no old book that records it was found.
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
Every household stews this chicken its own way. This is the simpler way I make it at home: brown the chicken lightly, stew it with soaked hazel mushrooms and soy sauce, and put in the starch noodles near the end. I leave out the wine and let soy sauce and a little sugar carry the flavor. The amounts and timings below are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
Young chicken, bone-in, cut into pieces 750 g
Dried hazel mushrooms 30 g, soaked before using
Dried starch noodles 50 g, softened in warm water
Cooking oil 30 ml
Scallion sections 2 sections
Ginger slices 4 slices
Garlic cloves 2 cloves
Star anise 2 pods
Light soy sauce 30 ml
Dark soy sauce 15 ml
Rock sugar or sugar 10 g
Salt about 3 g, adjusted after tasting
Boiling water 500 ml
Steps
Soak the hazel mushrooms in warm water for about 2 hours, then rinse off any grit and tear large ones apart. Soften the starch noodles separately in warm water and drain them.
Pat the chicken dry. Heat the oil over medium heat and brown the pieces until lightly golden, then set them aside.
Leave the oil in the pot and fry the scallion, ginger, garlic and star anise until fragrant. Add the mushrooms and stir for a moment, then add both soy sauces, the sugar and the salt.
Return the chicken to the pot, add 500 ml of boiling water and bring it to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to low and stew for about 30 minutes, which is the time I choose. Cut into a thick piece to check: there should be no pink and the juices should run clear before it counts as cooked through. If not, stew a few minutes more.
Add the softened noodles and stew about 8 minutes more, until they are soft and the sauce just coats them. If the pot gets dry, add a little boiling water, and taste before deciding whether to add salt.
Tips
If you cannot find hazel mushrooms, the 2016 magazine article suggests tea-tree mushrooms instead.
A farm-raised bird takes much longer, and a recipe article says over an hour. In that case I stew until the meat is tender before adding the noodles.
