Chicken Yam Stew 芋片焖鸡

A delicious dish with chicken thighs and yam slice simmered to tender using the energy-efficient thermal cooker :)

Yield: 4-adult portions

Ingredients 

4 chicken thighs

130g peeled yam, cut into thick slice

1/2 onion, chopped

2 tsp garlic, chopped

1 slice ginger

1.5 tbsp preserved soya bean, mashed*

1 tbsp raw sugar

1 tsp light soya sauce

1/4 tsp dark soya sauce 

1 tbsp fried onion crispy

A few shakes of pepper powder

Marinades

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp raw sugar

A few shakes of pepper powder

1/4 tsp dark soya sauce

Directions 

1. Rinse and trim chicken thighs of excess fat. Apply marinades to the thighs and let them rest for about 30 minutes.

2. Heat up a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan at low heat. Place yam in the middle, and the thighs at the four corners of the pan. Bring up the heat to medium high. Close the lid, but not locking, pan fry the yam and thighs to a slight golden.

Flip the items over after about 5 minutes. Only cook the surface of the chicken, no need to cook through.

3. Transfer the ingredients to a plate. Remove the excess oil from the pan using a few paper kitchen towels.

4. Heat up about 1 tsp of olive oil in the pan to pan-fry ginger and garlic to golden.

When the garlic turns golden, add in the chopped onion and place the mashed preserved soya bean at the side of the pan where temperature is lower.

When the onion has softened, add 1 tablespoon of raw sugar, 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce, and 1/4 tsp dark soya sauce.

When the sauce starts to bubble, pour in about 50ml of water.

5. Return the chicken thighs to the pan to coat the sauce.

6. Transfer the chicken thighs and sauce to the inner thermal pot. Place the yam slice above the chicken thighs.

Add hot water to just submerge the chicken thighs.

7. Heat the pot of ingredients to a light boil for about 10 minutes.

Leave a small gap between the pot and the lid to avoid over-boiling and 

over-flowing.

8. Cover the pot with the lid, and place into the outer thermal cooker and lock the external lid immediately. Allow the ingredients to simmer in the thermal cooker for about 1 1/2 hour.

9. After the simmering, transfer the chicken thighs and yam to a bowl.

Pour away about half of the gravy, if you want a thicker gravy.

Taste the remaining gravy to decide whether to add in additional salt, sugar, pepper powder and soya sauce.

Pour in some starch water and 1 tbsp fried onion crisp. Heat the inner pot over the stove till the gravy thickened.

10. Pour the thickened gravy over the chicken thighs and yam.

And serve with warm rice :)