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Chikuzenni

Name: Chikuzenni
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 500 g Chicken thighs; 150 g Carrot; 200 g Lotus root; 30 g Dried shiitake mushrooms; 150 g Bamboo shoots; 60 g Snow peas; 5 g Instant dashi granules; 60 ml Soy sauce; 40 ml Mirin (sweet rice wine); 30 ml Sake (rice wine); 15 g Caster sugar; 15 ml Toasted sesame oil; 400 ml Water

A New Year's osechi classic: chicken and an assortment of root vegetables and mushrooms, cut into shapes and simmered together in a sweet soy-and-dashi broth until glazed.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min
Difficulty: Easy

About this dish

Chikuzenni takes its name from Chikuzen, an old province in northern Kyushu where the dish is said to originate, brought to wider Japan as part of the New Year's osechi ryori tradition — food prepared in advance so households could rest from cooking during the first days of the year. Each vegetable is traditionally cut with meaning: lotus root's holes represent seeing clearly into the future, and the rounded shapes of the other vegetables stand for family harmony. Outside the New Year it's simply a well-loved home-style simmered dish, called nishime in other regions.

Lactose-free
Not vegetarian because of Chicken thighs, Instant dashi granules
Contains gluten because of Soy sauce

Ingredients

4servings

500gChicken thighs
150gCarrot
200gLotus root
30gDried shiitake mushrooms
150gBamboo shoots
60gSnow peas
5gInstant dashi granules
60mlSoy sauce
40mlMirin (sweet rice wine)
30mlSake (rice wine)
15gCaster sugar
15mlToasted sesame oil
400mlWater

Instructions

Soak the dried shiitake in the water until soft, about 20 minutes, then squeeze out and slice, reserving the soaking liquid.
10 min
Tip: Don't throw out that soaking water — it's concentrated mushroom dashi, and using it instead of plain water in the broth is what gives chikuzenni its deep, savoury base.
Heat the sesame oil and stir-fry the bite-sized chicken until no longer pink, then add the carrot, lotus root and bamboo shoots and stir-fry 5 minutes more.
8 min
Tip: Cutting the lotus root and carrot with a small notch on each edge (a traditional flower cut) is purely decorative, but even a rough chop still lets the vegetables catch the glaze evenly.
Add the mushroom soaking liquid, dashi granules, soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar, bring to a simmer, and cook uncovered for 15–18 minutes until the liquid reduces to a light glaze.
18 min
Tip: Simmering uncovered is deliberate — the point is to reduce the broth down onto the ingredients, not to keep them swimming in liquid.
Stir in the blanched snow peas just before serving.
2 min
Tip: Snow peas go in last and barely warmed through — their bright green colour and snap are the one contrast to the deep brown of everything else in the pot.