Braised Chicken with Chestnuts I

Poultry

Braised Chicken with Chestnuts I
Ingredients:
1/2 pound chestnuts
2 Tablespoons baking soda
12 chicken drumsticks, chopped or left whole, as desired
4 Tablespoons corn oil
3 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 medium onion cut into wedges
8 shiitake mushrooms, soaked half an hour, stems removed
3 slices fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, lightly smashed with side of a cleaver
2 star anise
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 scallions, cut into one-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
dash ground white pepper, or to taste
Preparation:
1. Soak chestnuts overnight in baking soda and water to cover. Drain, rinse three or more times, then drain again.
2. Put two tablespoons each of the rice wine and the soy sauce and marinate the chicken for ten minutes and remove, saving the marinade.
3.Heat oil and saute the onion until soft then remove it to a dish. In remaining oil in the wok or pan, saute ginger, garlic, and star anise just until hot then add the chicken and stir-fry for ten minutes. Discard any oil remaining in the pan.
4. Add all of the other ingredients including the reserved marinade, cover and simmer for twenty minutes. Or, you can put this in a sandpot, heat the liquid but do not bring to the boil, and simmer for thirty minutes, then serve.

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