Iritori - New Year Chicken and Root Vegetables

[helenjp]

Iritori - New Year Chicken and Root Vegetables

Serves 6 as Side.

This is a very traditional Japanese New Year dish. There are two versions - in this one, Iritori, the chicken and vegetables are cooked together. In other versions, ingredients are cooked separately and assembled at the end.

If you make this once, note which vegetables go first, and which get left until last, and next year, adjust quantities of each vegetable to suit your family’s tastes.

• 200 g boneless chicken thigh
  
• 1 T sake (rice wine)
  
• 1 qt soy sauce
  
• 1 large carrot (Kyo ninjin)
  
• 150 g burdock root
  
• 150 g lotus root
  
• 100 g boiled bamboo shoot
  
• 5 dried shiitake
  
• 1 sheet konnyaku (devil's tongue root jelly)
  
• 2 T oil
  
• 1 c dashi stock or water
  
• 3 T sake (rice wine)
  
• 3 T Mirin (sweet sake)
  
• 3 T soy sauce (preferably usukuchi or light soy sauce)
  
• 5 cooked ginkgo nuts (optional)
  
• 5 boiled, peeled quail eggs (optional)
  
• snow peas (saya-endou)
  

* Soak dried shiitake in 2 cups water. Weigh down with a saucer or place in a ziplock bag.

* Pull out sinews from chicken (use large tweezers), remove any large chunks of fat, cut into bite-sized pieces (not too small, the pieces will shrink on cooking).

* Place chicken in a pan with sugar, soy sauce, and sake, simmer till tender, turning chicken pieces from time to time. Reserve chicken.

* Peel and cut carrot. Use a rolling cut (ran-giri) for most of it, reserve some and cut with a decorative cutter, or cut thick slices and trim into flower shapes.

* Scrub burdock root, peel if necessary, use a rolling cut and cut into bite-sized pieces, either soak in vinegared water or drop quickly into lightly vinegared boiling water, parboil and drain.

* Peel lotus root, and either cut thick slices and divide into fan-shaped quarters, or cut thick chunks and cut vertically in half, then use a rolling-cut to cut into bite-sized pieces. Drop into lightly vinegared water.

* Drain bamboo shoot, use a rolling cut to cut into bite-sized piece.

* Drain shiitake, reserve water. Cut off stems, trim edges to make a hexagon (turtle-cut).

* Slice konnyaku widthwise, about 7-8 mm thick. Make a fairly short vertical slit in each slice. Holding one end, pull the other end through the slit once or twice to make a decorative twist.

* Drain all vegetables. Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok, stirfry the rolling-cut carrot, and add the other vegetables. Stirfry till all coated with oil and the surfaces beginning to cook.

* Add shiitake liquid and water or dashi added to make about 1.5 cups(add a dashi bag 1-2 tsp instant dashi if you like). Also add the sugar, half the soy sauce, and pan juices from the chicken.

* Place a drop-lid on top, and simmer till tender (about 30 minutes), skimming any scum that rises.

* Place konnyaku twists in a pan, just cover with water, place a drop-lid on top (so that they don't come uncurled!) and simmer briefly to set the shape. Cool, drain, and add to vegetable mixture to continue simmering and absorbing flavor.

* Meanwhile, place the decoratively cut carrot in a small pan, just cover with water, add a little sugar and mirin, and a pinch of salt, and simmer till tender-crisp (if too soft, the shapes will break up). Remove from pan, but cool in cooking liquid.

* Boil snap peas in salted water till tender-crisp, spread out to cool, and sprinkle with a little mirin. Cut diagonally in half.

* When vegetables are ready, add cooked chicken, heat thoroughly. Check seasonings and add the rest of the soy sauce if needed. Season thoroughly, or it will be too bland when eaten cold.

* Boil and peel quail eggs (or buy water-packed boiled quail eggs). Drain and wipe dry. Heat a metal skewer until red hot, and mark decoratively with “eyes” divided by a central “comb”, and 3 lines along the “body”.

* Use a fine skewer to make holes in the ginkgo nuts, threat onto washed pine needles (don’t break the bunchlets up. Japanese pines normally have two needles per bunch – just thread the nuts onto one of the needles).

* Wipe the bottom of your juu-bako (set of New Year lacquered boxes) with sake, or get a good-sized shallow bowl, and arrange the vegetables and chicken attractively. Make bunches of 3 pieces of snow pea, and poke them here and there in a fan-shaped bunch. Scatter the ginkgo nuts and quail eggs here and there.

Keywords: Side, Japanese, Intermediate, Chicken, Vegetables

( RG2069 )