Chinese Chicken Potato Stew. An easy savoury and delicious braised chicken stew with hearty potatoes and tender carrots. Totally comforting!
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This easy Chinese Chicken Potato Stew is absolutely flavorful and will instantly warm you up on a cold day! Perfect as a main dish with some steamed rice for dinner or lunch. Great as leftovers. It comes together in only 30 minutes!
My mother used to make something similar that entailed chicken with soy sauce. It was such a tasty satisfying dish that immediately brought warmth, especially during the colder months.
I decided to recreate my own Chinese chicken stew with soy sauce and I’m very excited to share my version. It’s easy to make at home with simple ingredients in little time!
This quick and easy stew recipe very simple to make at home and comes together without any fuss. The ingredients are accessible especially if you live near an Asian grocer. The key ingredient is oyster sauce and if you're not a fan, don't worry you can easily substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.Â
- Chicken Drumsticks: or substitute with skin-on bone-in chicken thighs. I would avoid using chicken breast as it tends to dry out. If you're not a fan of chicken, substitute with pork ribs, stewing beef or any marbled red meat.
- Yellow potatoes: or yukon gold potatoes
- Carrot: or substitute with another hard root vegetable like sweet potato or yellow carrots. Avoid using vegetables with lot of water in them like zucchini, celery, etc.
- Onion: if you're allergic, omit but please note that this offers great flavor!
- Water: or substitute with low-sodium chicken stock for more flavor!
- Green onion
- Neutral oil:Â like avocado oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil or any heavy scented oils with a low smoke point.
Sauce
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.Â
- Dark soy sauce: this is thicker and darker than regular soy sauce and not the same as regular soy sauce.Â
- Oyster sauce: Or substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce. Do not confuse this with Hoisin sauce, which looks similar.Â
- White granulated sugar
- Sesame oil
- Black pepper
- Garlic
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
How to make Chinese Chicken Potato Stew
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- In a pot over medium high heat, add cooking oil followed by onions. Fry until translucent.
- Next add chicken drumsticks and allow them to brown a bit on each side.
- Throw in peeled and chopped potatoes and carrots, let them fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add sauce, followed by water or stock. Mix everything together. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat. Simmer for 20 - 25 minutes covered, or until potatoes are fork tender, stirring occasionally. If you want a very thick stew sauce, remove the lid and simmer over medium heat for the same time, stirring occasionally.
- Remove off heat. Garnish with green onions. Enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pot on medium heat until hot throughout.
Expert Tips
- For best taste, use bone-in chicken with skin! The flavour from the bones and skin takes this stew to the next level, versus just using skinless boneless chicken meat. However, if you only have skinless boneless chicken, I recommend using thigh meat since it’s more tender and doesn’t dry out like chicken breast.
- Pre-mix the sauce. This allows for the sauce ingredients to evenly distribute. It will also be easier when you’re cooking so you’re not scrambling to measure your sauce ingredients.
- Brown that chicken! The browning of the chicken creates additional flavour to this soy sauce chicken stew. So do not skip this step!
- Oyster sauce offers depth! The oyster sauce adds a deep savoury umami taste to my Chinese chicken stew with potatoes and carrot. However, if you don’t like oyster sauce, substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce.
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Chinese Chicken Potato Stew
Ingredients
- 6 chicken drumsticks
- 3.5 cups yellow potatoes peeled and chopped
- ½ cup carrot peeled and chopped, add more if desired
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 3 cups water or sub with chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 2 stalks green onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce or sub with vegetarian stir fry sauce
- 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- In a pot over medium high heat, add cooking oil followed by onions. Fry until translucent.
- Next add chicken drumsticks and allow them to brown a bit on each side.
- Throw in peeled and chopped potatoes and carrots, let them fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add sauce, followed by water or stock. Mix everything together. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat. Simmer for 20 - 25 minutes covered, or until potatoes are fork tender, stirring occasionally. If you want a very thick stew sauce, remove the lid and simmer over medium heat for the same time, stirring occasionally.
- Remove off heat. Garnish with green onions. Enjoy!
Sue Bond
This was a great dish also many others that i have tried since i found you thank you so much am sure i am Asian inside as love all the recipes
christieathome
Hi Sue, thank you so much for this kind comment! I am so glad you enjoyed my dish! The pleasure is all mine 🙂 Have a great day! - Christie