🤠’s easy Chicken with Mushrooms & Lily Bulb

Chicken with mushrooms and lily bulb is a traditional dish prepared for Chinese women after pregnancy. My paternal grandmother was a licensed midwife (she graduated from a nursing and midwifery college in Canton in 1935) and ran a 4 bed maternity home in one of the two terrace houses my family stayed in. She used to cook this recipe for her boarding clients. I have modified it slightly to include brandy or Shaoxing wine.

You will need :

two pieces of chicken breast or quarter chicken, 4-5 button mushrooms, quartered, one dried Shitake mushroom, soaked in hot water and cut in strips, a handful of dried lily bulbs, soaked in hot water, black fungus, soaked in water, cleaned, shallots, chopped a thumb sized ginger, julienned and two to three cloves of garlic, minced .

Marinade : 1 T oyster sauce, 1 T Shaoxine wine, 1 T dark soy, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, sugar, pepper to taste, cornstarch as thickener.

Step 1. Put marinade ingredients into a ziplock bag. Wash chicken pieces, remove excess fat and skin. Place in ziplock bag and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Step 2. Heat 1 T oil in a wok. Fry garlic, shallots and ginger until aromatic. Add chicken pieces. Sear chicken on high heat, then reduce heat. Add cornstarch in water, about 30 ml . Add the mushrooms, black fungus and lily bulb. Add sugar and pepper to taste. Cook with lid on for 10 minutes. Tip: For more flavour, add 2 T brandy.

Step 3. Reduce sauce to just enough to coat the chicken pieces. Remove to serving plate and garnish with coriander leaves (cilantro).