I have alot of recipe books but i never really attempted any so far, decided to bring out and found this Chestnut Chicken recipe from Singapore Family Cook Book by Violet Onn
Here's the recipe (modified a little):
11/2kg whole chicken cleaned
1/2kg raw chestnut from market but leaving skin on
10 thin slice ginger
10 clove of garlic, left whole but peeled leaving the last layer on
1/4 cup dark soya sauce
1 tbsp sugar
11/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil
1. Chop chicken into 5 cm piece. Rinse and pat dry. Rub 2 teaspoon dark soya sauce all over andset aside 30 mins
2. Boil 10 cup of water in pot. Add chestnur and boil 10 min to loosen skin. Drain and rinse in tap water. Ease off the skin
3. Smash garlic clove but leave them whole
4. Heat oil in wok till smoking. Stir fry garlic and ginger for abr 11/2 min till fragrant
5. Add chicken and stir fry for 5-7 min till meat colour change. Add the remaining soya sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. STir fry briefly before adding 11/2 cup water
6. MIc well and bring the mixture to boil. Top it up with peeled chestnut and stew, cover over medium heat for 45 min till gravy is thick and chicken is tender. Stir several times during cooking. Serve\
Verdict
Its a very appetising dish that goes very well with rice. The sweetness of chestnut (in season now] give its an extra punch, one thing that i had learnt was to boil the chestnut longer prior to removing the skin. Then use the same water to cook the chicken, the effect will be better
i had forgotten to remove the skin and resulted in the stew to be very oily