Braised Beef with Potatoes
Beef braised until tender with potatoes that soak up the savoury sauce — a classic family stew.
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Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms
Young chicken and pork belly browned, then simmered with hazel mushrooms and glass noodles until the broth reduces to a third — the Northeastern one-pot classic. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 小鸡炖蘑菇, report 112.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 小鸡炖蘑菇_112.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 30 minutesCook: 1 hour 15 minutesTotal: 1 hour 45 minutesServings: 2–3Difficulty: EasyRegion: NortheastFlavour: Savoury, mushroom-rich, home-style
Why this works
This stew is built on two fats and one patience: pork belly rendered first until lightly crisped gives the pot its body, and the chicken browned in that fat picks up colour that a plain boil never gives. Hazel mushrooms, soaked twenty minutes in 40 °C water, bring a woodsy depth no button mushroom matches, and their soaking liquid — strained into the pot — is part of the seasoning, not waste water. The noodles go in only for the last thirty minutes: earlier and they dissolve into starch, later and they never absorb the broth. The whole pot stays at a low simmer, never a boil, for seventy minutes, because hard boiling shreds the chicken and clouds a broth that should finish glossy and reduced to a third of its volume, clinging to every piece. Serve it family-style from the pot, with the noodles tangled through the chicken, and plenty of broth spooned over rice.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young chicken, bone-in, cut into 3–4 cm pieces | 7 oz | 200 g | Soaked 30 minutes in cold water to remove blood, then blanched 1 minute with ginger and cooking wine — never longer, or the meat toughens. |
| Pork belly, sliced thin | 1 oz | 30 g | Rendered first to flavour the pot. |
| Dried hazel mushrooms | 0.5 oz | 15 g | Soaked 20 minutes in 40 °C water until soft; keep 100 ml of the soaking liquid. Dried shiitake is a substitute (adaptation). |
| Dried glass noodles | 1 oz | 30 g | Soaked 15 minutes in cold water, cut into 10 cm lengths. |
| Scallion segments | 0.35 oz | 10 g | — |
| Ginger slices | 0.35 oz | 10 g | — |
| Garlic cloves | 0.2 oz | 5 g | — |
| Light soy sauce | 1 tbsp | 15 ml | — |
| Cooking wine | 2 tsp | 10 ml | — |
| Salt | ½ tsp | 3 g | — |
| Neutral oil | 4 tsp | 20 ml | — |
| Boiling water, for the stew | About 1⅔ cups | 400 ml | Including 100 ml mushroom soaking liquid. |
Equipment
- Heavy pot or Dutch oven with a lid — no special pot required (adaptation)
- Colander for the mushrooms
- Bowl for soaking
Steps
- Prepare the ingredients. Cut the chicken into 3–4 cm pieces, soak in cold water 30 minutes, drain, then blanch 1 minute in water with ginger and cooking wine — no longer — and drain. Soak the hazel mushrooms in 40 °C water for 20 minutes until soft, squeeze dry, and keep 100 ml of the soaking liquid. Soak the glass noodles in cold water for 15 minutes and cut into 10 cm lengths.
- Render and brown. Heat the oil and fry the pork belly slices on medium heat for about 2 minutes until lightly crisped and the fat renders. Add the scallion, ginger and garlic and fry 15 seconds until fragrant.
- Brown the chicken and season. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry on high heat for about 3 minutes until lightly golden on the surface. Splash in the cooking wine, then add the soy sauce and salt and toss evenly.
- Simmer, then add mushrooms and noodles. Pour in 400 ml boiling water (including the 100 ml mushroom liquid), bring to a boil, then turn to low heat and simmer gently for 40 minutes, keeping the surface barely moving. Add the soaked mushrooms and noodles and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes more, until the broth has reduced to about a third of its volume.
- Reduce and serve. Turn to high heat and reduce for 1 minute until the broth is thick and coats the chicken, mushrooms and noodles. Serve at once from the pot.
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Technique: render first, noodles last, simmer never boil
The order is the recipe: pork fat first for body, chicken browned second for colour, mushrooms and noodles last because they need different times — mushrooms a full thirty minutes to give up their flavour, noodles the same thirty to absorb it without dissolving. A hard boil at any stage shreds the chicken and breaks the noodles, so the pot should tremble, not roll, for the whole seventy minutes. If the broth tastes thin at the end, it was not reduced enough; give it the final high-heat minute rather than adding salt.
Variations
- Shiitake version: use dried shiitake instead of hazel mushrooms (adaptation).
- No pork belly: start with a tablespoon of oil and a little extra chicken skin for fat (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Why keep the mushroom soaking liquid?
It carries much of the hazel mushroom's aroma; strained into the pot, it deepens the broth noticeably.
Why did my noodles dissolve?
They went in earlier than the last thirty minutes, or the pot boiled hard. Keep the simmer gentle and the timing strict.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes — the report notes it can be cooked to 80% ahead and finished with a five-minute reheat and reduction (adaptation).
Storage and freezing
Best eaten fresh from the pot, but it reheats well. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated; reheat gently until steaming hot. The stew (without noodles) freezes well for up to 1 month; add freshly soaked noodles when reheating.
Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms — Recipe Card
Chicken and pork belly simmered with hazel mushrooms and glass noodles.
Prep: 30 minutesCook: 1 hour 15 minutesTotal: 1 hour 45 minutesServings: 2–3
Ingredients: 200 g chicken; 30 g pork belly; 15 g dried hazel mushrooms; 30 g glass noodles; 10 g scallion; 10 g ginger; 5 g garlic; 15 ml soy sauce; 10 ml cooking wine; 3 g salt; 20 ml oil; 400 ml boiling water (incl. 100 ml mushroom liquid).
Steps: 1) Soak chicken 30 minutes, blanch 1 minute; soak mushrooms 20 minutes, noodles 15 minutes. 2) Render pork belly 2 minutes, fry aromatics 15 seconds. 3) Brown chicken 3 minutes, season. 4) Simmer 40 minutes, add mushrooms and noodles, simmer 30 minutes, reduce 1 minute.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 小鸡炖蘑菇 (data/reports/112.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The shiitake substitute and the make-ahead note are adaptations and are labelled as such. Original poster image: clouchef.com (小鸡炖蘑菇_112.jpeg).