Kaisen chukadon / Chinese-style seafood saute over steamed rice

A tasty Japanese donburi of a classic Chinese dish. This is a reduced-sodium version of a previously posted chukadon recipe. It uses more vinegar than the original recipe and much less soy sauce and oyster sauce, but the sourness is milder... Why? Vinegar is boiled (in microwave) to get rid of excess sourness, leaving just enough sour taste and a sensation that mimics saltiness. This recipe also uses Shaoxing wine instead of sake to ensure a flavorful outcome. All in all, this is a very satisfying dish that sticks to your ribs.

1/2 of recipe (when served with 150 g steamed rice):
401 calories; 15.8 g protein; 2.8 g fat; 74.9 g carbohydrate; 71.4 g net carbs; 521 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce; 673 mg with regular soy sauce); 37 mg cholesterol; 3.5 g fiber


<Ingredients>

2 bowls of steamed rice (not in photo)

4 shrimp (36 g shelled in photo)
2 sea scallops (60 g)
2-3 leaves hakusai napa cabbage (82g in photo)
Handful komatsuna (44 g in photo)
3-4cm renkon lotus root (60 g in photo)
1 small carrot (40 g in photo)
Small handful shimeji mushrooms (52 g in photo)
1 tsp oil

For sauce
5 tbsp (75 cc) chicken stock
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp kurozu brown rice vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp Shaoxing wine
1/2 tbsp sugar
Black pepper, to taste (not in photo)
2 tsp katakuriko potato starch + 2-3 tsp water
1/4 tsp sesame oil (optional; not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Microwave rice vinegar and kurozu brown rice vinegar for 15-20 seconds.

Add vinegar mixture to chicken stock.
Set aside.









2.

In another container, mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine and sugar.
Set aside.







3.

Slice carrot into 3-4mm.
Cut renkon lengthwise into four, slice crosswise into 4-5 mm, and soak in water.

Place carrot and renkon in a microwaveable container, cover, and microwave for 40-50 seconds.

Remove cover, and let out hot air.










4.

Finely chop garlic and ginger.
Remove root ends of shimeji. Cut hakusai and komatsuna into 3-4 cm.
Cut scallops in half crosswise.

Clean shrimp with potato starch, rinse, and drain well









5.

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

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

Transfer shrimp and scallops to a plate or bowl.










6.

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

When hakusai become slightly translucent, add shimeji, and saute.

When coated with oil, add carrot and renkon and remaining green sections of hakusai and komatsuna, and continue sauteing until roughly coated with oil.
Vegetables do not need to be fully cooked at this stage.





7.

Add chicken stock, cover, and cook for 1-2 minutes.

8.

Remove cover, put shrimp and scallops, and mix.

Add soy sauce mixture, and stir.

Add black pepper to taste.

After stirring potato starch + water mixture well, swirl half into pan (pour onto a spatula as you move it in a circle over pan), and mix.
Add more to achieve necessary thickness.

Here, sauce is thickened to gravy consistency. 
Add sesame oil (optional; skipped here)









9.

Serve steamed rice in bowls or on plates, and pour goodies and sauce over rice.








<Notes>

• If you like something sour, microwaving rice vinegar and brown rice vinegar is optional.
• When microwaving carrot and renkon, do so only to get rid of the raw toughness. Ideally, these two should still be somewhat firm in the final dish to give variation in texture.
• While basically any vegetable, meat and seafood work with this recipe, onion, peppers, takenoko bamboo shoot, water chestnuts, and hard-boiled uzura tamago quail eggs are especially common. The goal is to select ingredients of different colors and textures for a better overall nutritional balance and more satisfying dish.
• If shimeji is not available, try shiitake, eringi, hiratake, maitake or chanterelle mushrooms.
• Adding sesame oil at the very end would give a very nice aroma. Only a small amount does the trick.
• Calorie content above changes significantly according to the amount of steamed rice served. 150 g steamed rice contains 252 calories. The amount of steamed rice per serving for kids is about 100 g or less, and for adults it is between 120 g and 180 g depending on the individual; the amount is often higher when served in donburi dishes.