This chicken and kabocha cream stew is the perfect dish for the cold season. A white wine aroma with tender chicken and sweet kabocha squash gives you really comforting feeling. Also, you can consume plenty of vegetables.
Cream Stew is Really a Popular One-Pot Meal in Japan
We have many different Western-influenced dishes, and cream stew is one of the popular dishes for people of all ages in Japan. Matter of fact, most Japanese grocery stores sell instant cream stew roux, next to curry roux. In my house, mom always kept this roux in our pantry. This roux is so convenient because after you cook any kind of vegetable and meat( sometimes fish) with water, all you need to do is “throw in” the rue. However, I didn’t use this commercial stew roux this time for my recipe today.
Main Ingredients of Chicken Kabocha Cream Stew
Chicken…. chicken thigh with or without skin. You can also use chicken breast if you like.
Kabocha Squash… makes stew sweet and nutritious. Also, the starch from the kabocha squash makes the stew creamier and thicker. Regular pumpkin or butternut squash can be substituted.
Shimeji mushroom… regular white or brown mushroom can be a substitute.
White Wine… an acid of wine helps tenderize the meat and adds a lot of flavors. I love drinking white wine, so I tend to use a generous amount of wine, however, you can reduce it to half, if you are not a big fan of wine flavor.
Onion, Carrot… any flavorful vegetables are always perfect for stew. You can add celery or leeks as well.
Vegetable Bouillon Powder… I have vegetable bouillon powder in my house today so I used it, but you can use any kind of vegetable stock or chicken stock.
Heavy Cream… Wintertime, I really crave thick and heavy food, so I use heavy cream for my stew, but you can substitute with regular milk, or soy milk, or any kind of milk if you like the stew lighter.
Ingredients
- 17 - 21 oz (500-600g) of kabocha squash
- 2 to 3 pc of small carrots
- 1 pc of onion, cut into wedges
- 1 bunch of shimeji mushroom, remove the cluster, separate into each stem
- 1lb (g) of chicken thigh, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter times 2
- ½ tablespoon of flour
- ⅔ cup of white wine
- 1 cup of water
- 4g of vegetable bouillon powder or cube
- ½ cup of heavy cream or milk
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pot and cook for about 2 -3 minutes. Transfer to the plate.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter in the same pot with medium-low heat. Add onions and carrots and cook them until the onion gets softened. Stirring occasionally, until tender about 3-4 minutes. Add shimeji mushroom and cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add another tablespoon of butter into the pot, whisk in flour and sautee them for about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Pour white wine and scrape the bottom. Then return the cooked chicken back, and add water and vegetable bouillon powder or cube. Once water is boiled, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add kabocha squash, then cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the kabocha is softened.
- Once kabocha gets softened, add heavy cream, cook 2 to 3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
