Braised Chicken with Flavoured Rice

I found these giant king oyster mushrooms from South Korea at the newly relocated Oriental City Supermarket in Bayswater a little awhile ago and just had to get a packet. A packet of 5 mushrooms were priced at £3.99, not exactly cheap, but they were large and everything seems to be expensive these days anyway.

I was going to fry them up with garlic, spring onion, a splash of white wine and a pat of butter but there were some boneless (and skinless) chicken things sitting in the fridge waiting to be used. So chicken stew it was. I cut the chicken into thick slices and fried them up in a little oil until they were lightly browned. In went some chopped garlic to sizzle for a few seconds. The mushrooms and carrots were next in, both cut into large chunks. I stirred in oyster sauce and soy sauce for flavour. Water went in last, another quick stir and on went the lid for 20 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through, the carrots soft and the mushrooms should have imparted flavour to the stew, as well have soaked up some flavours from the sauce. In a separate bowl, stir a few drops of water to a teaspoon or two of cornstarch. Add the mixture to the stew and let it cook for a few seconds to thicken the sauce.

I could have served it with boiled rice but that would just be plain boring ;) I shredded some kaffir lime leaves (yes, a fine shred - there's no use for large bits of leaves in this rice dish), finely chopped lemongrass and garlic before adding it to a pot on medium heat with a little oil. I fried them until lightly fragrant (not burnt! or even browned) and sprinkled in a touch of salt. In went some basmati rice. Continue frying until the rice is slightly translucent. Add water to the rice and cover to cook until the rice is done.

Verdict?
Yummy if I may say so. The home Chinese meets Southeast Asia really worked quite well. Another dimension of flavour. It would have been ever so slightly boring with plain white rice. As usual soy sauce and oyster sauce never fails to disappoint :) The mushrooms were rather good. It maintained it's mushroom-y body rather well and did not flop over with the extended cooking time. I liked it well enough as oyster mushrooms go (my passion for edible fungi never extended itself to include oyster mushroom).