Chicken Hot Pot Recipe

When traveling in the mountains, I stayed at a farmer's house. In the morning, the roosters crowed and the owner slaughtered chickens and picked fresh mushrooms from the back mountain. The mushroom and chicken hot pot still lingers on my tongue. Now, I share this unforgettable and delicious mushroom and chicken hot pot recipe with you.

Why I love this recipe:

Mushroom and Chicken Hotpot is a hotpot delicacy cooked with fresh chicken and various mushrooms as the main ingredients, along with other vegetables, seasonings, etc. This hotpot is not only delicious but also nutritious, and is deeply loved by diners.

It stems from people's constant pursuit of delicious food and the clever combination of ingredients. In areas rich in wild mushroom resources such as Yunnan, locals cleverly use the deliciousness of wild mushrooms and the mellowness of native chickens to create this unique hot pot delicacy.

With the rise of tourism, mushroom and chicken hotpot has gradually become more and more well-known and loved. It has not only become a representative of the specialties of Yunnan and other places, but has also gradually spread across the country and even around the world, allowing more people to taste this delicious dish.

Ingredients Needed and Substitutions

Main ingredients:

Mushrooms (shiitake mushrooms, seafood mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, etc.): enhance flavor, increase aroma and taste.

Free-range chicken: the main ingredient, providing protein and meaty texture.

Red dates. Wolfberry: Adds sweetness and enriches the taste.

Seasoning:

Ginger and cooking wine: increase flavor and remove fishy smell.

Five-spice powder and soy sauce: seasoning and aroma.

Substitutes:

Cooking wine: can be replaced with rice vinegar or white wine.

Five-spice powder: You can use a mixture of cinnamon powder, clove powder, fennel powder, tangerine peel powder, and star anise powder instead.

Soy sauce: can be replaced with light soy sauce or dark soy sauce.

What side dishes can I add?

There are many kinds of side dishes for mushroom hot pot. First of all, it can be paired with various vegetables, such as baby cabbage, pakchoy, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, as well as various mushroom ingredients such as enoki mushrooms, seafood mushrooms, and white jade mushrooms, to make the taste of the hot pot more layered.

Of course, in addition to vegetables, you can also add some soy products, such as tofu, bean skin, etc. They can not only absorb the soup of the hot pot and become more flavorful, but also add rich plant protein to the hot pot.

If you like meat, beef balls, pork balls and other hot pot meatballs are also good choices. Their chewy texture and rich meaty aroma can add a different flavor to the hot pot.

Tips for Success

Selected ingredients: The freshness of the ingredients is the basis for making mushroom and chicken hot pot. When choosing chicken, make sure that its meat is firm and bright in color. It is best to choose free-range chicken that grows up eating grains. For mushroom ingredients, also choose fresh, worm-free, and odor-free ones, so as to ensure the delicious taste of the hot pot.

Marinate the chicken to make it more flavorful: Cut the chicken into pieces and marinate it with cooking wine, five-spice powder, soy sauce and other seasonings for at least 30 minutes. This will not only remove the fishy smell of the chicken, but also allow the seasoning to fully penetrate into the chicken, making it more flavorful.

Master the heat and cook slowly to bring out the aroma: Mastering the heat is crucial when making mushroom and chicken hotpot. First, fry the chicken and mushrooms over high heat until fragrant, then add an appropriate amount of water (or broth) and simmer over low heat. During the slow cooking process, the deliciousness of the chicken and the aroma of the mushrooms will fully blend to form a rich soup base.

Add ingredients at the right time to maintain the taste: During the stewing process, you can add red dates, wolfberries and other ingredients according to your personal taste. They can not only increase the nutritional value of the hot pot, but also improve the taste and color of the soup. But remember not to add them too early to avoid overcooking and affecting the taste.

Keep the soup clear and skim off the foam: During the stewing process, skim off the foam and impurities on the soup surface in time to keep the soup clear. This will not only enhance the visual effect of the hot pot, but also make the soup more delicious and pure.

Flexible combination of side dishes to enrich the taste: In addition to chicken and mushrooms, you can also flexibly match various side dishes according to your personal preferences. But be careful to control the time and heat of adding side dishes to maintain their best taste and nutritional value.