top of page

Photography: Yuki Sugiura

Sweet and sour stew

Tori No Nimono

SERVES: 4 TO 6

Stews don’t always have to be winter comfort food. Reminiscent of an escabèche, this summer stew is very refreshing on a hot day, with its slightly vinegary sauce and its garlic zing, leaving you feeling nourished and satisfied without being too heavy.

Recipe from Atusko's cookbook:

Otsumami

Ingredients

  • 8 chicken drumsticks

  • 1 litre/quart boiling water

  • 5 garlic cloves, gently crushed 120 ml1⁄2 cup soy sauce

  • 100 ml/1⁄3 cup plus 1 tbsp sake 80 ml/1⁄3 cup rice vinegar

  • 50 ml/31⁄2 tbsp mirin

  • 3 tbsp soft light brown sugar 4 UK large/US extra-large
    eggs

  • cooked Japanese rice,

Visit my Amazon shop to purchase the ingredients

Method

  1. Place the chicken drumsticks in a metal sieve/strainer. Pour the boiling water onto the chicken to rinse and pre-cook the surfaces (do this in two batches with two lots of boiling water if your sieve/strainer is smaller).

  2. In the large saucepan, combine 100 ml/1⁄3 cup plus

  3. 1 tbsp fresh water with the crushed garlic cloves, soy sauce, sake, vinegar, mirin and brown sugar and bring to the boil. When the seasonings start boiling, add the chicken drumsticks to the saucepan, then cover with the drop-lid. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 40 minutes. Turn the drumsticks over a few times using tongs and baste them with the seasonings as they cook.

  4. When the 40 minutes cooking time for the chicken stew is up, add the peeled eggs and simmer, covered with the drop lid, for a final 10 minutes. Baste the chicken and eggs with the seasonings again as they cook.
    Remove the stew from the heat and rest with the lid on for 20 minutes.
    Cut the eggs in half to serve and serve the stew with plenty of rice on the side.

If you use this recipe tag @atsukoskitchen and use the ashtag #atsukoskitchen so we can take a look!

bottom of page