Sesame ginger chicken with wood fungus

Whenever I think of confinement recipes, this dish will be the first to pop up in my mind. Power dish for new mothers! Has all the good stuff in it.

The Chinese believe a new mother after childbirth needs to restore her health and energy, thus sesame oil is used in this dish to warm up her body and to promote blood circulation. The crunchy wood fungus (mok yee) helps rid the body of all unwanted stale blood and to improve blood circulation. Slices of old ginger is used here to dispel air trapped in the body that may cause discomfort in the abdomen and rejuvenate a good appetite. This lovely dish must be served hot and tastes absolutely wonderful to hungry new mothers and everyone who yearns for a bite.

I wonder if any of you, have one time or another experienced cold hands and feet, and I am not talking about during the winter season. It can be bright and sunny, somehow the hands and feet doesn’t seem to get warmed up. Try cooking and eating this dish more often and hubby won’t jump out of his skin every time you cuddle him.

Ingredients

1 medium size free-range chicken (cleaned and chopped into small pieces)
250 gm fresh wood fungus (hard stem removed, torn into bite-size pieces)
5 dried Chinese mushrooms (optional, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, remove the stem and discard soaking water)
3 Tbsp sesame oil
10 – 15 slices of old ginger
1 tsp sea salt to taste
1 tsp brown sugar
200 ml Chinese rice wine

Method

1. Heat up a large clay pot or a wok, drizzle in the sesame oil.
2. Toss in all the old ginger slices and mushrooms. Stir fry evenly for about 3 – 4 minutes or until fragrant.
3. Put in the chopped chicken and fry some more until all the chicken pieces are slightly browned.
4. Pour in a ladle of hot water or chicken stock if available. Cover the clay pot with a lid. Let the chicken simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Toss in the wood fungus and give it a good stir. Increase the heat and pour in all the rice wine. Bring it to boil and add in the seas salt and sugar to taste. Some would prefer to add soy sauce to taste because they believe the salt may cause the wine to have a slight bitter taste.
6. Must serve hot with hot fluffy rice.