Japanese Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew

Recipe from Ganso Yaki

Adapted by Melissa Clark

Updated Feb. 29, 2024

Japanese Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(211)
Comments
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This vegetable-rich stew is based on a Japanese nimono, a simmered dish flavored with kombu, soy sauce and dried shiitake mushroom caps. Although the ingredients may take some searching (check Japanese or Asian markets, or online), the cooking  itself is no harder than the usual chicken soup, and the results are just as comforting. You can substitute other root vegetables for the ones called for here. Just make sure to add the sturdier chunks first (taro, celery root, burdock, kohlrabi, turnip, beets) so they have enough time to cook before adding the quicker-cooking ones (turnips, sweet potatoes, winter squash). If you want to make this vegetarian, you can leave out the chicken. It works equally well. Adding cubes of tofu or pieces of fish or seafood during the last few minutes of cooking is also a nice way to go. —Melissa Clark

Featured in: A Japanese Stew Puts Root Vegetables to Good Use

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 10 to 12dried Japanese or Chinese shiitake mushrooms (about 1½ ounces)
  • 1piece kombu, about 7 by 3½ inches
  • 1pound bone-in chicken thighs (2 to 3), skins removed if you prefer (or substitute bone-in breast meat)
  • 4ounces taro root, celery root or potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 4ounces daikon or other radishes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (or use kohlrabi)
  • 4ounces carrots, yellow beets or lotus root, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1cup sake
  • 2½tablespoons Japanese soy sauce or tamari, more to taste
  • 1teaspoon sugar
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4ounces sweet potato, white turnip or winter squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • Rice wine vinegar, to taste
  • Ground sansho pepper, shichimi togarashi or good smoky chile powder, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

327 calories; 6 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 28 grams protein; 748 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium bowl, soak dried mushrooms in water overnight at room temperature. (Alternatively, you can cover mushrooms with hot water and let soak for 2 hours.)

  2. Step 2

    Remove mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid. Slice off stems and discard them. Cut the caps into ¼-inch pieces.

  3. Step 3

    Place kombu in a large pot, add mushrooms and their soaking liquid, and bring to a boil over high heat.

  4. Step 4

    Meanwhile, make a drop lid (called an otoshibuta in Japanese) by folding foil into a round just smaller than the pot. Poke a few holes in the drop lid with a chopstick or knife.

  5. Step 5

    As soon as liquid boils, remove kombu and discard or save to reuse. Add chicken, taro, radish, carrot, sake, soy sauce, sugar and salt to the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, place drop lid directly on top of cooking vegetables and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

  6. Step 6

    Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Add sweet potato to the pot, cover pot again with drop lid, and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are cooked through but not mushy.

  7. Step 7

    Meanwhile, shred cooled chicken and divide among four bowls. Stir rice wine vinegar into stew, along with salt to taste, then ladle it into the bowls with the chicken. Garnish with sansho powder or shichimi togarashi and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
211 user ratings
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Comments

Stephen

There are many kinds of Japanese sweet potatoes, ranging from white to orange to purple. This kind of braised vegetable dish usually uses sato-imo, a small, round tuber more closely related to taro.

Sansho, or Zanthoxylum piperitum, is technically not a pepper. It's highly fragrant, often sprinkled on grilled eel, noodles, etc. It's also sometimes pickled whole.

Shichimi is a seven spice mix of ground chili, orange peel, sesame, sansho, ginger, etc. Often used on soba and udon.

Perignon

For stews like this I use low-fat or no-fat chicken stock instead of water to soak the shiitake mushrooms in overnite, and I also add 1 TBS of mushroom powder (or more to taste) to the pot before I add the soaking liquid and vegetables. It makes for an incredibly rich and tasty stew in the same way that mushroom powder is one of my essential ingredients in every pho I make.

Vicki

How much water?

DW

Loved this stew! Broth was delicious and cooking times yielded perfectly tender vegetables. Vegetable to broth ratio was a little larger than I’d like, so a couple of changes I’d consider if making in the future: 1. I’d soak the mushrooms in 3-4 cups of broth to ensure there is enough broth in the end. I’d probably use extra mushrooms to account for any dilution in flavor with more broth. 2. Cook chicken thighs for maybe closer to 30 minutes. This may also yield more liquid.

Barbara

light and tasty stew, nice variety

Jeremy

The amount of water within which to soak the mushrooms seems like a pretty important detail to omit, no? Since it is the base of the stew and all…

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Credits

Adapted from Ganso Yaki, Brooklyn, N.Y.

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