Braised chicken with water caltrops on rice
Chicken thighs braised with Mid-Autumn water caltrops and red dates until the caltrops turn soft and starchy — tender, savoury and perfect for spooning over rice.
- 50 min
- Serves 3
- Braise
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi-deficient people tire easily, get breathless and have middling appetites, and as Bailu's mornings and evenings cool, a weak digestion needs gentle warmth. Water caltrops are a Mid-Autumn speciality that strengthen the spleen and boost qi once cooked; chicken warms the middle and red dates nourish blood. Braised until soft and savoury, it's an easy, restoring lunch.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min- 1Cut the chicken into pieces and mix with the soy sauce, cornflour and wine; leave for 15 minutes. Rinse and halve the water caltrops and stone the red dates.
- 2Heat the oil, fry the ginger until fragrant, then brown the chicken lightly on both sides.
- 3Add the caltrops, red dates and water, bring to the boil, then cover and braise over a medium-low heat for 20 minutes until the caltrops are soft.
- 4Stir in the oyster sauce, uncover and reduce over a high heat until the sauce is thick. Scatter with spring onion and serve with rice.
Cautions
- Never eat water caltrops raw — they are cooling and can carry parasites, so cook them through; they are starchy, so eat less rice if you're watching your blood sugar.
Chef's tips
- Ready-shelled caltrops from the wet market save a lot of time; they're done when a chopstick slides in easily, and keep stirring while reducing the sauce so nothing catches.
The TCM view
Water caltrops are sweet and cool raw but neutral once cooked, entering the spleen and stomach and strengthening them — the Mingyi Bielu says they 'calm the middle and tonify the five organs'. Chicken is sweet and warm, warming the middle and boosting qi; red dates tonify the middle and nourish blood; ginger warms and settles the stomach.
