Chukadon / Chinese-style saute with sauce over steamed rice

Another standard Japanese Chinese dish. Assorted ingredients are sauteed and flavored in Chinese style -- often meaning a combination of ginger, garlic, chicken stock, and oyster sauce. Here is one example with prawns and scallops.

When served with 150 g steamed rice:
428 calories per serving (1/2 of recipe); 17.1 g protein; 3.0 g fat; 79.0 g carbohydrate; 75.9 g net carbs; 1077 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce; 1419 mg with regular soy sauce); 53 mg cholesterol; 3.1 g fiber


<Ingredients>

Steamed rice for two (not in photo)

4-5 prawns
2 scallops
3 hakusai napa cabbage leaves
1 chingensai baby bok choy
1/2 carrot
3cm red pepper
2 shiitake mushrooms
1 small knob ginger
1 small clove garlic
Potato starch (to clean prawns; not in photo)
1-2 tsp oil (for sauteing; not in photo)

For soup & seasoning
100 cc chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

1-2 tbsp potato starch + 1-2 tbsp water


<Directions>
1.

Mix all seasonings (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sake, sugar and rice vinegar), and set aside.

2.

Cut hakusai and chingensai into 3-4 cm pieces.
Cut carrot into 3-4 cm and thinly slice.
Thinly slice red pepper and shiitake.
Finely chop ginger and garlic.
Slice scallops in half horizontally (to obtain two rounds per scallop).

Clean prawns with potato starch, rinse, and drain well.

3.

Wrap carrot in plastic, and microwave for 10-15 seconds.

Open plastic to let out hot air, and set aside.
Carrot does not need to be very soft at this point.

4.

In a frying pan, heat oil, and saute ginger and garlic on medium low to low heat.

When starting to be fragrant, move ginger and garlic to one side of pan, put prawns and scallops in the open area, and saute on medium heat until prawns turn pink and scallops turn somewhat opaque.

Transfer prawns and scallops onto a plate as they change color.

5.

In the same frying pan, saute firm, white sections of hakusai, chingensai and shiitake on medium high heat.

When coated with oil and hakusai and chingensai become slightly translucent, add remaining vegetables (green sections of hakusai and chingensai, carrot and red pepper), and continue sauteing until green section of hakusai and chingensai somewhat brightens.
Vegetables do not need to be fully cooked at this stage; being almost done is the goal.

6.

Add chicken stock and put back prawns and scallops, and bring to boil.

Add seasoning mixture, and mix well. 

7.

Add potato starch + water mixture to thicken sauce.
Always first mix the mixture well, then add 1/2-2/3 of the specified amount by swirling it into the pan or pouring onto a spatula as you move it in a circle over pan.

Add more as necessary to obtain desired consistency.

8.

Serve on top of steamed rice.

<Notes>

• Without microwaving, the carrot would stay very crispy, almost raw. The slightly softer texture matches other ingredients better.
• When sauteing prawns and scallops, do not wait until all pieces change color. Instead, transfer individual pieces as they change color. Sauteing them for a long time as you wait for all pieces to be ready could result in some pieces being overcooked and having a rubbery texture.
• If the frying pan looks very dry after removing prawns and scallops, add a tiny amount of oil before starting to saute vegetables.
• For extra aroma, add a very small amount (1/4 tsp max) of sesame oil at the very end before serving over steamed rice.
• Rice vinegar is optional. If not using rice vinegar, reduce the amount of sugar and oyster sauce for a better flavor balance.
• You can add anything you find in your fridge. 
• Other common ingredients include pork, chicken, calamari, hard-boiled quail eggs, moyashi bean sprouts, boiled takenoko bamboo shoots, green pepper, onions, leafy greens (especially those with thicker leaves, such as komatsuna, gailan Chinese broccoli,  yu choy sum and tatsoi/tacai), peas, various mushrooms, etc. 
• See kaisen chukadon for a reduced-sodium version.

(Last updated: June 7, 2014)