Following a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributor Lucien Jung is back with more beloved recipes that local residents remember from childhood. In this episode, he joins Hiroko Kawai who shares her mother’s recipe for chicken steamed in sake.
Chicken steamed in sake is a dish that Kawai’s mother made when she wanted to treat her family to a “fancy” meal that was easy to prepare.
“She had four children, so she was very busy all the time,” says Kawai.
Sake elevates the humble chicken into something company worthy. Ginger, scallions and salt round out the seasonings. Everything’s baked in a covered casserole dish for about an hour. The chicken is then chilled before being served alongside hot rice and green beans. Traditionally, the sliced ginger and scallions are removed before serving.
“My mother's way was to take off everything after being cooked,” says Kawai. But the joy of cooking is often in discovering your own tastes, and interpreting beloved family recipes in ways that bring delight and whimsy to the familiar.
Unlike her mother, Kawai serves her chicken with the ginger and scallions because she particularly relishes chewing on the fragrant ginger medallions that perfume her dish.
Enhancing the spicy and floral notes of the ginger and sake is a punchy dipping sauce that makes this elegant medley sing. Rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and Japanese mustard, all tempered by a few drops of sesame oil, come together in ways that enliven the tongue.
When Kawai tastes this dish, she recalls her family sitting around the table, laughing and sharing stories. In her memories, the dish itself is an afterthought — just something on the table, but “it’s there” says Kawai. “This dish is there.”
Recipe
Serves 4
Chicken Steamed in Sake
Ingredients:
4 or 5 chicken thighs
Fresh ginger root (to taste) peeled and sliced
Scallions (to taste)
Sake (enough to immerse chicken - see note)
Salt (to taste)
Preparation:
Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt
Slice ginger and scallions
Place chicken thighs in baking dish and pour on sake until chicken is drenched
Sprinkle on sliced ginger and scallions
Cover baking dish and bake at 350° for one hour
Chill and then slice chicken before serving with hot rice, green beans and dipping sauce
NOTE: Kawai suggests using inexpensive cooking sake. Premium sakes would be wasted on this preparation.
Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
½ tablespoon karashi (Japanese mustard - see note)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
A few drops of sesame oil
Preparation:
Mix all of the ingredients together and serve.
NOTE: You can substitute Japanese mustard with other mustard — like Chinese mustard or yellow mustard — but don’t use Dijon because it has too much vinegar.
