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Nishime (Simmered Chicken and Root Vegetables)
Serves 4 · About 1 hr 10 min (10 min of this is just letting it sit with the heat off)
Chicken, root vegetables, shiitake and konjac simmered in a sweet and salty broth until the liquid gets low. A simmered dish often made for New Year's and special days.
① Cut the vegetables→② Cut the konjac and chicken→③ Stir-fry→④ Simmer→⑤ Coat with the sauce→⑥ Turn off the heat and let sit
What to buy
Meat
Vegetables
Frozen foods
Seasonings & dry goods
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How to make it
1
Cut the vegetables
- Fill a bowl with water
- Peel the lotus root, cut it into 1 cm thick half-moons on the cutting board, and put them in the bowl of water right away
- Wash the dirt off the burdock with water and scrape off the skin with the back of a knife (the side opposite the blade). Cut into 1 cm thick slanted slices and put in the same bowl as the lotus root
- Peel the carrot and cut into 1 cm thick rounds
- Cut off the hard tips of the shiitake stems and cut the caps in half
How to tell it's doneEverything is cut, and the lotus root and burdock have been in the water for 5 min or more.
2
Cut the konjac and chicken
- Rinse the konjac with water and tear it into bite-size pieces with a spoon (flavor soaks in better than if you cut it)
- On the cutting board, cut off the yellow fat sticking out of the chicken, and cut it into pieces of about 3 cm
- When you finish cutting, wash the cutting board, knife and your hands with dish soap
- Drain the lotus root and burdock in a colander
How to tell it's doneThe konjac and chicken are cut, and the lotus root and burdock are drained.
3
Stir-fry
- Put 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pot and heat over medium heat
- Add the chicken and stir-fry. When the outside turns whitish, add the burdock, lotus root, carrot, konjac and shiitake
- Stir-fry for 2 min, mixing with a spatula, so everything gets coated in oil
How to tell it's doneNo raw color is left on the outside of the chicken, and all the vegetables are shiny with oil.
4
Simmer
- Add 500 ml water, 2 tsp dashi granules, 3 tbsp sake, 2 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp mirin, and bring to a boil over medium heat
- Skim off the brownish foam (aku) on top with a ladle and throw it away
- Add the frozen taro still frozen, and add 4 tbsp soy sauce
- Cut a circle of aluminum foil a little smaller than the pot and lay it on top of the food (a drop lid). Medium-low heat for about 20 min
How to tell it's doneA bamboo skewer slides easily into the burdock, lotus root and taro. Cut the biggest piece of chicken: the inside is white, not pink.
Be carefulLift the foil now and then. If the liquid is almost gone, add 50 ml water.
5
Coat with the sauce
- Take off the foil and turn to medium heat
- Cook down the liquid, shaking the pot back and forth now and then to coat the food in it (stirring hard with a spatula breaks up the taro)
How to tell it's doneThe food looks shiny, and the liquid has gone down until only a little is left at the bottom of the pot.
Be carefulAs the liquid gets low, it burns easily. Do not leave the stove.
6
Turn off the heat and let sit
- Turn off the heat, put the pot lid on and let sit 10 min (the flavor soaks in as it cools)
- It looks nice if you arrange each kind of food in its own group in the dish
ReadyAll the food is brown and shiny. It is tasty cold too, so you can make it the day before (once cool, keep it in a container with a lid in the fridge and eat within 2 days).
📚 Learn more about this dish
🥬 Ingredient guide
If it didn't work out
The burdock or lotus root is hardIt did not simmer long enough in step 4. If the liquid is low, add 50 ml water, and keep going 5 min at a time.
The taro fell apartIt was stirred with a spatula in step 5. Next time, only shake the pot.
The color is pale and the flavor is weakThe liquid was not cooked down enough in step 5. Coat the food in the liquid a little longer over medium heat.
The bottom burnedYou stopped watching it in step 5. Do not scrape the burnt part; move only the food on top to the dish.
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