About the Recipe
"Nimono" refers to the cooking technique of simmering meats and vegetables in a stock so that the food absorbs the flavours of the stock. Nimono dishes in Japan are one of the most varied forms of cooking with family recipes being handed down the generations. This recipe is a simple nimono using chicken and daikon. I would cook this longer in Japan as the flesh of Japanese daikon tends to be harder and less absorbent than its European equivalent, mouli - the trick to this dish is to time the simmering so that the chicken and daikon absorb lots of flavour but the daikon is still a little firm when you present it to your diners.
Ingredients
300g boneless chicken thigh
300g daikon
1 tbsp veg oil
1.5 tbsp cooking sake
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp mirin
100ml water
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Japanese stock granules
5 mm slice of ginger, peeled
some chopped chives for a garnish (optional)
Preparation
peel the daikon and cut into 1 cm thick pieces
cut the chicken into bite sized pieces
heat the veg oil in a saucepan, add the chicken & daikon and stir for 1 min
add the water, the japanese stock granules, cooking sake,
mirin, soy sauce, sugar and ginger to the saucepan, and simmer for 10 mins with a lid on over a medium heat
after 10 mins, remove the lid and simmer for a further 10-15 mins over a medium heat with the lid off
when the liquid has reduced by about 3/4, the dish is ready
serve with Japanese rice, salad and perhaps some miso soup