Japanese Food Report Logo (Wide)
Chicken Simmered with Carrots and Daikon

Chicken Simmered with Carrots and Daikon

Discover the art of Japanese cuisine with a super fast, easy, and incredibly delicious recipe utilizing the traditional simmering technique. Learn the secrets of infusing amazing flavor into ingredients with soy sauce, sake, and mirin, and explore the power of the otoshibuta. Try the recipe using ingredients like carrot, daikon, and boneless chicken legs for a delightful and quick cooking experience.

I've talked about simmering before, so you know it's one of my favorite cooking techniques in Japanese cuisine. It's a simple and fast way to infuse amazing flavor into ingredients. The secret is the traditional seasonings -- soy sauce, sake and mirin, liquids brimming with savory flavor thanks to fermentation (fermentation breaks down soybeans and rice found in them, and in doing so, releases potent flavor compounds (a.k.a. umami) The otosbuta is another factor. So with Japanese simmering, you don't have to cook for hours to tease out flavor; the deliciousness is already there and waiting, in the intrinsic natural taste of ingredients combined with those amazing seasonings! Okay, enough of this mumbo jumbo, let's get to cookin' with this super fast, easy, and incredibly delicious recipe.

For this dish I used the following ingredients:

Carrot, Daikon, and Chicken Simmer

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium carrot, peeled
  • 1/2 pound daikon, peeled
  • 2 boneless chicken legs, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 teaspoons sake
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions:

  1. Prepare Vegetables: Using the "rangiri" cutting technique, cut the carrot and daikon. To do this, cut at an angle, turn a quarter turn, cut again at an angle, and repeat. This method creates uniformly sized pieces for even cooking.

  2. Simmer Vegetables: Place the cut carrot and daikon in a medium saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover with an otoshibuta (wooden lid or aluminum foil with pierced holes) and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the roots are tender.

  3. Cook the Chicken: Add the chicken pieces to the saucepan, adding more water if necessary to cover the ingredients. Add the sake and return to a boil.

  4. Add Seasoning: After the liquid boils, add soy sauce and sugar. Cover with the otoshibuta again and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add more water during cooking if needed.

  5. Adjust Flavor and Serve: Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional soy sauce or sugar if desired. Serve this dish hot, at room temperature, or reheated. Optionally, garnish with shichimi togarashi for added flavor.

Enjoy this comforting and flavorful Carrot, Daikon, and Chicken Simmer, a dish perfect for any season!