Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min
Serves 4
Traditionally this would have been cooked in a claypot, but you can use any wide heatproof pan. The marinade is the key — the soy sauce, sesame oil and cornflour magically tenderises anything it touches.
10 dried shiitake mushrooms
700g boneless chicken thighs
200g tofu, drained
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 thick slices fresh ginger, cut into matchsticks
100g tinned bamboo shoots, finely sliced
4 spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths
1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornflour
Marinade:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornflour
METHOD
Soak the mushrooms in 250ml of boiling water for 30 minutes. Cut the chicken into generous bite-sized pieces and marinate in the soy, sesame oil and cornflour for 20 minutes.
Drain the mushrooms, reserving the water, and finely slice the caps, discarding the stems. Cut the tofu into 2cm cubes. Heat the oil and ginger in a wide heatproof pan and stir-fry the chicken for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots and spring onions and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Add 200ml of mushroom water, rice wine, soy and sugar and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the tofu to heat through.
Mix 2 tsp cornflour with 1 tbsp cold water and add, stirring well until the sauce thickens. Serve with rice.