Autumn Equinox · Dinner · Yang Deficiency
Braised chicken with chestnuts & shiitake
Sweet, floury chestnuts soak up the chicken juices with fragrant shiitake and old ginger — a warming home-style dish as evenings cool.
- 50 min
- Serves 3
- Braise
- Easy
WarmingWarms spleen & kidneysWarms & dispels cold
Why it suits you: Yang Deficiency means feeling the cold, with cold hands and feet, and cooler Autumn Equinox mornings plus office air-conditioning make it worse. Chestnuts support the kidneys and chicken warms the middle; braised with old ginger, the dish warms yang without being too heating.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 35 min- 1Marinate the chicken with the soy sauce and cornflour for 15 minutes. Soak the shiitake until soft, trim the stems and keep 300 ml of the soaking water.
- 2Heat a little oil in a wok, fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant, brown the chicken lightly on both sides and splash in the Shaoxing wine.
- 3Add the chestnuts, shiitake, oyster sauce and mushroom water. Bring to the boil, then cover and braise over medium-low heat for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice.
- 4When a chopstick slides easily into the chestnuts, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce. Meanwhile blanch the choy sum and serve with rice.
Cautions
- Chestnuts can cause bloating — if your digestion is weak, a few per meal is enough.
Chef's tips
- Vacuum-packed cooked chestnuts work too; add them for the last 10 minutes so they don't fall apart.
The TCM view
Chestnut is sweet and warm and strengthens the kidneys and digestion; chicken is sweet and warm and builds qi; old ginger and garlic are pungent and warm and dispel cold; shiitake is sweet and neutral. Slow braising warms the spleen and kidneys without drying — right while Hong Kong is still mild.
