Stewed potato, chicken and carrots in a gravy made from oyster sauce, soya sauce and one unexpected ingredient. So wholesome. A far cry from the early days of my cooking adventures, when I was all about “sexy” dishes like fried chicken, brownies and carbonara. Some say my age is showing. As I get older, I find myself gravitating to healthier and more wholesome options.
But no matter how healthier or wholesome, that dish must have kick. I research like crazy before I attempt any dish: I scour the Internet rigorously to compare dozens of recipes, at times, simply because I believe that somewhere someone out there has come up with one genius tip/hack that can transform a dish from ordinary to mind-blowing.
While googling recipes for this humble stew, I had a Eureka moment when I stumbled upon Rasa Malaysia ‘s ayam pong teh. Its ingredients overlap with this stew, except it features one key ingredient: taucheo! Now that would definitely add an umami kick.
Hubs and I enjoyed this dish very much. We discussed other ways to use it – Asian shepherd’ s pie? Woo Kok filling? So many possibilities, if you’re willing to push boundaries 🙂
You need:
100g each of minced chicken, carrot and potato
1 tbs Oyster sauce
1/2 tbs dark soya sauce
1/2 tbs light soya sauce
1 tsp taucheo
1 cup water
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 shallots (sliced)
Salt & pepper to taste
1. Dice potato and carrot.
2. Boil carrot in a cup of water until softened. Reserve water for use later.
3. Pre-fry the potatoes in a bit of oil until the outside starts to brown.
4. Heat up 1 tbs oil.
5. Add garlic and shallots, fry until soft but not brown.
6. Add minced chicken and spread out in a thin layer. Cook until bottom has browned, then flip over with a spatula and cook other side.
7. Add carrots and potato, followed by oyster sauce, both types of soya sauce, and taucheo.
8. Add the water from boiling carrots. Start with half a cup; add more if you see sauce drying up. Cook under low heat to allow meat to stew.
9. Add cornstarch, followed by salt and paper to taste. Serve with hot rice 🙂
