Dishes made from chicken always provide a lot of nutrients and can be prepared in various delicious ways. Today, let’s join TasteVN in the kitchen to showcase our skills with 2 ways to cook chicken soup with radish and sweet, fragrant papaya, which is incredibly simple!
1. Chicken stew with lemongrass, radish, and straw mushrooms
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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
1 hour 20 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Chicken stew with lemongrass, radish, and straw mushrooms For 4 people
Chicken 1 whole (about 1.5kg) White radish 1 piece Straw mushrooms 300 gr Bird’s eye chili 5 pieces Lemongrass 6 stalks Minced garlic 2 teaspoons Minced lemongrass 2 teaspoons Minced shallots 2 teaspoons Fish sauce 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder 1/2 tablespoon Chili paste 1/2 teaspoon Coarse salt a little Common seasoning a little (salt/ sugar/ seasoning powder/ monosodium glutamate)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh radishes
- Choose medium-sized white radishes that are elongated towards the tail. Radishes that are thick at the tail often have a rather bland taste.
- Select radishes that still have their roots and fresh leaves, as these are radishes that have just been harvested.
- Avoid buying radishes with rotten leaves while the skin is still smooth and shiny, as these are radishes that have been injected with preservatives.
- Be able to identify Chinese radishes to avoid: smooth, shiny, fine skin, very white, quite large, thick radish body, with no leaves and root hairs.
How to choose fresh straw mushrooms
- Choose straw mushrooms that are still in bud, not yet opened, fresh, and have a slightly round or cylindrical shape.
- Select mushrooms that are of moderate size and uniform with each other.
- It is better to choose straw mushrooms that are black or gray, as they will taste better than those that are white.
- When touched and gently squeezed, the mushrooms should feel firm. The mushrooms have a distinctive natural aroma, with no strange rotten smell.
How to make Lemongrass Stewed Chicken with Daikon and Straw Mushrooms
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Prepare and Marinate the Chicken
Clean the pre-prepared chicken, removing all the tough feathers on the skin, rub it with a little salt, then rinse well and let it drain. Next, extract a little chicken fat and cut it into bite-sized pieces.
Marinate the chicken with: 1 teaspoon minced lemongrass, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon minced shallots, 1/2 tablespoon turmeric powder, 2 teaspoons seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon chili paste, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, mix well, and let it sit for about 15 minutes to absorb the flavors.
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Prepare the Other Ingredients
Peel the daikon, wash it clean, and cut it into bite-sized pieces.
For the straw mushrooms, cut off the dirty stems, soak them in diluted salt water for 10 minutes, then rinse with water and let them drain, use a knife to score the tops so that the mushrooms absorb the flavors better.
Wash the lemongrass and crush it. Peel the ginger, wash it clean, and cut it into strips.
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Stir-fry chicken and straw mushrooms
Place a pot on the stove to heat with the chicken fat, then add shredded ginger, 4 crushed lemongrass stalks, and the remaining minced lemongrass, garlic, and shallots to sauté until fragrant.
Next, add the marinated chicken and stir-fry until the meat is firm.
Put a pan on the stove to heat the remaining chicken fat, then add the straw mushrooms and stir well. Season with 1 teaspoon of seasoning and stir-fry until the mushrooms are soft and fragrant, then turn off the heat.
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Chicken stew with lemongrass, radish, and straw mushrooms
Add 1.5 liters of filtered water, the remaining 2 stalks of lemongrass, and white radish to the sautéed chicken, stir well, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Season with 2 teaspoons of seasoning powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and 1 teaspoon of sugar, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 1 hour.
After that, add the sautéed straw mushrooms and cook for another 1 – 2 minutes, then adjust the seasoning to taste. Finally, turn off the heat and add the bird’s eye chili, stir well, and it’s ready to enjoy.
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Final product
The stewed chicken with lemongrass, radish, and straw mushrooms has an enticing aroma that spreads. The chicken is tender, infused with flavors, while the radish and straw mushrooms are crunchy and sweet, combined with the sweet and fragrant broth of lemongrass, making it hard to resist the deliciousness of this stewed chicken dish!
2. Stewed Chicken with Lemongrass and Papaya
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Preparation
25 minutes
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Cooking
1 hour
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Stewed Chicken with Lemongrass and Papaya Serves 4
Chicken 1 whole (approximately 1.5kg) Papaya 1 fruit (approximately 300gr) Lemongrass 4 stalks Garlic 1 bulb Shallot 1 bulb Fresh coconut water 500 ml Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 1 teaspoon Salt a pinch Common seasoning a little (salt/ sugar/ seasoning powder)
How to Choose Ripe, Delicious Papaya
- Choose papayas that are slightly ripe, just ripe enough to cook soup better.
- Select fruits that are elongated or uniformly round, with shiny green skin and yellow spots, without insect bites.
- The papaya should feel heavy, firm, and solid, especially the fresh stem with sap is the best.
- Avoid those with many bruises, dark spots, or excessive white powder on the outside.
How to Prepare Chicken Stewed with Lemongrass and Papaya
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Prepare the Chicken
Buy pre-processed chicken from the market, pluck out all remaining feathers on the chicken skin, then rub it with coarse salt and rinse thoroughly with water, letting it drain and cut into bite-sized pieces.
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Prepare Other Ingredients
Wash the lemongrass, smash it, and cut into pieces about 2 finger lengths. Peel the papaya, remove the seeds, wash it, and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Take 1/2 of a garlic bulb, peel the shallots, and chop finely. Leave the remaining 1/2 garlic bulb peeled and whole.
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Sauté Chicken with Lemongrass
Place a pot on the stove with 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, heating over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the smashed lemongrass, chopped shallots, and minced garlic to fry until fragrant.
Next, add the chicken and sauté for about 5 minutes over medium heat until the meat is firm.
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Stew chicken with papaya
Add 500ml of fresh coconut water and 500ml of filtered water to the sautéed chicken, stir well.
Season with 3 teaspoons of seasoning powder, 3 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, stir well, and simmer for 30 minutes over medium heat.
Next, add papaya and the remaining 1/2 bulb of garlic, and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Then add another 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, stir well, then let it simmer for another 1 – 2 minutes. Finally, adjust the seasoning to taste and turn off the heat.
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Final product
The dish of chicken stew with lemongrass and papaya is completed with a distinctive fragrant smell. The stewed chicken is tender and delicious, the papaya is sweet and melts in your mouth, blending with the broth that has a strong lemongrass aroma, rich in enticing spices.
How to choose fresh and delicious chicken
- Choose chicken that has a pinkish-red color, with no bruises or blood clots on the skin. Avoid selecting those with dark, blackened skin as they are chickens that died before being processed.
- When buying local chicken, one should choose those with a slender body, light yellow skin, thin, smooth, and high elasticity, with dark yellow spots in some areas like the breast, wings, and back.
- Press your hand on the (thigh or breast) area to check if the chicken is water-injected. If the chicken feels mushy, slippery, or deformed, it is best not to buy it.
- When purchasing frozen chicken, it is essential to buy from supermarkets or food stores to ensure product quality.
How to clean chicken properly, without odor
- To clean chicken properly, you first need to pluck out the hard, black feathers on the chicken’s skin, cut off the oil glands, the fatty parts, and wash out any remaining blood inside the chicken’s body.
- Use crushed ginger and a little white wine to rub on the chicken for about 10 minutes, then rinse it thoroughly with water.
- You can wash the chicken with salt and rinse it under cold running water to remove stubborn dirt from the chicken meat.
- You should not soak the chicken in saltwater for cleaning; soaking in water will make the chicken meat more likely to become mushy and fishy. You should
Just with a few simple steps, you can immediately have 2 dishes of lemongrass chicken stew with papaya and sweet radish, delicious and fragrant. Let’s join TasteVN in the kitchen right away!
*Refer to the images and recipes from 2 YouTube channels: HỒNG THANH FOOD and Bếp Của Vợ.
