I have tested this recipe twice and the second time turned out so much better. The first time I was testing out a similar recipe I found online but it called for too much soy sauce. I really love braised daikon. This dish is good even without the chicken but since I bought chicken for the chawan mushi, I thought I’d use it with the daikon. Nimono（煮物）dishes are common in Japan. Most of the time, it’s some sort of braised fish, meat or vegetable in a soy sauce, sake and/or mirin sauce. It’s also diluted with dashijiru or water so that the liquid can simmer and reduce. I used the daikon leaves because I had some but the star of this dish is definitely the daikon.
Ingredients (Servings 2)
2-3 pieces of chicken thigh meat or about 1/2 lb of chicken thigh
1/2 daikon cut in 1 inch long logs and then cut in half (this depends on the thickness of your daikon.
1 inch of ginger sliced thin
2 cups of water (270 ml)
3.5 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp + 1 tsp of sugar
3 tbsp of sake
Directions
1) Cut the chicken into thick strips.
2) Fry the ginger in a little vegetable oil but don’t burn. Just release it’s flavor.
3) Add the chicken and sear it a little but the chicken doesn’t have to be done. You don’t want the chicken to get dry.
4) Remove the chicken and ginger and add to a thick pot. I use my pressure cooker and leave the lid off.
5) Add the sauce ingredients, sake, sugar, and soy sauce and get any bits of chicken flavor off the bottom of the pan. Transfer the sauce into the pot with the chicken.
6) Add the daikon and water and simmer for 45 minutes on low heat. Occasionally, turn the daikon because the sauce will simmer down.
7) If you have fresh daikon leaves, add them the last 5 minutes of simmering so that they retain their color. Note: Some daikon leaves are tough and fibrous, leave them out if they aren’t crisp and fresh.
8) Serve with a little of the sauce drizzled on top.
Cut the chicken into thick strips.
Fry the ginger a little in vegetable oil.
The chicken doesn’t have to be done.
Take the chicken out and add the sauce to the pan.
Add the chicken, sauce, water and daikon into a thick pot to simmer.
Simmer for 45 minutes on low heat.
If you have fresh daikon leaves that aren’t too fibrous, add them to the pot the last 5 minutes of simmering.
Serve with a some of the sauce.
Naomi Kuwabara was born and raised in California but spent many summers in Japan growing up. She has spent time living in Hokkaido and Osaka, both meccas for Japanese cuisine. Her passion is cooking and sharing her experiences cooking Japanese food with others. Her blog Umamitopia is about her experiences cooking Japanese food. Her greatest inspirations are from her mother and grandmother. Her cooking adventures can be found at http://umamitopia.com.
