Isolation has allowed me more time to revive some timeless recipes in new formats. This has always been my favourite dish both as a child when my mom or dad were cooking (yes, they both cooked!), when I had a family of five to feed, or now, when I am cooking for myself.
As in the curried chicken, I used air-chilled skinless, boneless, chicken thighs (8 pieces) but bone-in chicken parts would do just as well although I've found that because of the different textures and thickness of the different parts, cooking may be uneven. For example, the breast may get overcooked while the thigh was just right. So I've found it easiest to stick to chicken thighs which is not as easy to overcook.
The other key ingredient for flavour is dried shitake mushrooms. Fresh shitake doesn't have the same intense flavour as the dried so I wouldn't substitute - I'll cook another dish if I don't have dried shitake at home. Red wine of course is needed and if you believe the star chefs, you only put the best in (if you can afford to). I just use what I have handy and it was never an issue. Two onions each cut into 8 pieces.
Remove the stems from the dried shitake and soak thoroughly, overnight or for about 5 hours. Remove from water, dry, marinate with pepper, sprinkle of sugar and sesame oil.
Cut the chicken thighs into two inch pieces, marinate for a few hours with cooking wine, soy sauce or Maggi sauce, and fresh ground pepper. When ready to cook, add corn starch and mix thoroughly. In a non-stick pan over medium high heat, brown the chicken on both sides with a few slices of ginger. Add a cup or more of red wine and some soy sauce to taste when the chicken is browned.
Meanwhile, in the Instant Pot or Le Creuset pot, sauté the onions and the shitake mushrooms. When slightly browned, add the browned chicken with the red wine.
For the Instant Pot, turn off sauté, put the lid on, seal, and turn on high pressure cook for 10 minutes. Quick release at the end of the 10 minutes. If the sauce is not thick enough, remove the chicken to prevent overcooking, turn off pressure cook and sauté until it is thick and able to coat the chicken. This is important because this sauce coating is essential to the flavour of the dish. If it is too watery, it won't work.
For the Le Creuset pot, put the lid on and stick in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Sauce is usually just right, if not, reduce on the stovetop after removing the chicken so as not to overcook. The sauce should be just thick enough to coat the chicken. This is essential to the flavour of the dish. If it is too watery, it won't work.
Serve with rice. Also flavour intensifies overnight. Leftover sauce is also super good on ramen or other white noodles.
There are as many types of curried chicken as there are ethnic groups in Asia. My dad used to make this curry and I had stuck to it for the longest time, until I tried my Indian cousin's curry which had a particularly piquant taste to it. The secret ingredient was tomatoes - not always visible but always there.
I use boneless skinless chicken thighs but bone-in chopped up chicken pieces are even better. Preparation is still the same. Cut up chicken (7-8 pieces of thigh meat), marinate for a few hours with wine, soy or Maggi sauce, fresh ground pepper. When ready to cook, add corn starch to coat the chicken.
Prepare other ingredients: 3 medium-sized potatoes cut into wedges; 3 small onions, cut into wedges; 2 medium tomatoes, diced; 2 slices of ginger, 8 oz of coconut milk,
Heat up a non-stick pan, add oil then potatoes. Remove potatoes when brown.
Add oil to pan, leave heat on high, add 3 heaping teaspoons of Indian curry powder (more if you like it hot), add chicken, stir to make sure chicken is coated with curry.
If you have an Instant Pot, turn on sauté, add a tablespoon of oil to pot, when pot is hot, add onions and brown. Add tomatoes, then chicken and potatoes, coconut milk and a dash of soy sauce. Turn off sauté. Put lid on pot, cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. Release pressure at the end of 5 minutes in order not to overcook chicken. Sauce should be just about right but if it's not thick enough, remove all the solid ingredients, turn off pressure cook and turn on sauté to reduce sauce. Pour sauce on chicken and it's done!
If you are not using an Instant Pot, sauté onions till brown in a heavy pot, preferably cast iron enamel (e.g., Le Creuset), add all the ingredients as above. Cover and turn heat to a simmer on stove, stirring occasionally or put the covered pot in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and it's ready to serve.
Note: In the stove top or oven method, it's possible that the potatoes are not always cooked the same time as the chicken. You may need to remove the chicken and just simmer the potatoes for 5-10 minutes more in the sauce. The good thing with the Instant Pot method is both chicken and potatoes are ready in the 5 minutes of high pressure cooking.
