Monk Fruit and Seed-Braised Chicken
A creative fusion dish combining the natural sweetness of monk fruit with the crunch of toasted seeds, the chicken is braised until tender and juicy, sweet and savory nourishing.
Ingredients
11 items- Chicken 1 whole (about 2.2 lbs / 1000 g)
- Monk fruit (Luo Han Guo) 2 pieces
- Pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds) 30 g
- Ginger 20 g
- Scallions 2 stalks
- Light soy sauce 3 tablespoons
- Dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon
- Shaoxing wine (or rice wine) 1 tablespoon
- White sugar 1 teaspoon
- Salt to taste
- Cooking oil 2 tablespoons
Nutrition
Steps （9 steps）
Clean the chicken, cut into 1.5-inch chunks, and drain well. Crack the monk fruit to extract the flesh and seeds. Slice ginger, cut scallions.
Place chicken in a bowl, add 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 2 tbsp light soy sauce and ginger slices. Mix well and marinate for 15 minutes.
Heat a wok over medium heat, add 2 tbsp oil, and stir-fry ginger slices until fragrant and slightly charred.
Turn to high heat, add chicken pieces and quickly stir-fry until surface changes color and skin tightens.
Add monk fruit flesh and seeds, continue stir-frying for 1 minute until aromatic.
Add 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, and 1 tsp sugar. Stir-fry to evenly coat the chicken.
Pour in hot water to barely cover the chicken. Bring to a full boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and braise for 30 minutes until the chicken is fork-tender.
Uncover, turn to high heat to reduce the sauce until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and add salt if needed.
Sprinkle in toasted pumpkin seeds and scallions, toss to combine, then turn off heat. Transfer to a serving plate.
Tips
Monk fruit is easily cracked with the back of a knife; toast the seeds over low heat until slightly yellow for maximum fragrance; adding a bit of egg white to the marinade makes the chicken more tender; add all water at once and avoid opening the lid during braising.
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