About the Recipe
Japanese Cream Stew is much better known in Japan as White Stew. For some reason, outside of Japan, it is known as Japanese Cream Stew even though it doesn't actually contain cream but uses milk as a substitute. Back in the day, it was very difficult to get hold of cream in Japan. In fact, this dish was originally made with milk formula powder! Nowadays you can buy a prepared "White Stew" cubes which make this dish even easier to prepare. My recipe doesn't use cubes but it is just a s delicious nonetheless!
Ingredients
120g / 4oz peeled carrot
3 medium button mushrooms
1 large peeled potato (about 250g / 9oz)
1 peeled medium onion
3 florets of broccoli
2 boneless chicken thighs (250g / 9oz)
100ml / 3.4floz white wine
150ml / 5floz water
salt and pepper
1/2 chicken stock cube
1 tbsp vegetable oil
200ml / 7 fl oz milk
3 tbsp plain flour
30g / 1 oz butter
Preparation
First prepare the vegetables. Slice the carrot into bite size pieces.
Remove the bottom stem from the mushrooms and cut them in half.
Cut the potato into medium bite size pieces.
Cut the onion into bite size pieces.
Cut each broccoli floret in half.
Lay out the chicken thighs and cut them into bite size pieces.
Heat the vegetable oil in a small or medium casserole. Add the chicken and fry until the flesh has slightly coloured.
Add the carrots, potatoes, onion and mushrooms to the casserole. Stir well.
Next, add the white wine. Sprinkle generously with black pepper and sal. Add the water and the half chicken cube stock. Bring everything to the boil and simmer with the lid on for about 15 minutes or until the potato has softened.
Meanwhile, bring some water to the boil in a small pan. Add a little salt, then add the broccoli. Simmer for 3 mintes before draining and setting aside.
Next, combine the milk and the plain flour in a jug. Give the milk a quick whisk to bring up any lumps. Set aside.
Add the butter to the stew and stir a little until the butter is melted.
Then, add the milk mixture and flour to the stew. Stir and cook for about a further 5 minutes. Make sure there are no floury lumps.
Adjust the seasoning with salt if necessary.
Add the cooked broccoli and simmer for 1 minute. Serve immediately. You can pair your Japanese Cream stew with a bowl of Japanese rice or some fresh French bread.