Chicken Stew Recipe: Big Plate Chicken (توخۇ قوردىقى)

 

Watch the video tutorial here.

Speaking of the Uyghur braised chicken stew, in Uyghur it’s called "Tohoo-Qordiqi," توخۇ قوردىقى, which means Chicken Stew. It combines an entire chicken with potatoes, fresh peppers and seasoned with dried chili peppers, served with noodle. You may have heard of its famous Chinese name DaPanJi, translated in English Big Plate Chicken. There are many assumptions about the origin of this dish, personally I believe this dish has its origin in Uyghur cuisine. Because of all the Uyghur food culture clues that are hidden in the dish. For instance, eating from a big plate together, meat, noodle, potatoes. These ingredients of this hearty meal, are all typically found in the Uyghur cuisine.

This versatile, all-in-one, mouth-watering noodle dish is a perfect choice for parties and all celebrations you wish.

😋Yields: 2-3 people
🕙Time:1 hr. 10 min

chicken stew on a white plate

INGREDIENTS
Dough:
All-purpose flour 200gr
Water 80ml
2 pinches of salt

Chicken stew:
a Half chicken 800gr
Oil 275ml
Scallions 2x, diagonally cut them roughly into smaller pieces
Ginger 42gr, remove the skin, slice them into thin, big pieces
Two bulbs of garlic, chopped finely
Star anise 3x
Red Sichuan pepper powder 4gr
Red chili flakes 1/2 tsp
Sweet paprika powder 1/2 tsp
Red chili pepper 1x , diagonally cut them roughly into smaller pieces
Mild green pepper 2x, 73gr,remove the seeds, slice lengthwise in 4-6 pieces, then cut them into triangle forms
Mild/sweet red paprika 1/2, remove the seeds, slice lengthwise in 4-6 pieces, then cut them into triangle forms
Potato 357gr, peel off the skin, cut it into thick bite-sized pieces
Soy sauce 1.5 tbsp
Sugar 2tsp
Salt 2tsp
Water 400ml


INSTRUCTIONS

  1. To make the dough: Add flour and salt to a mixing bowl, then add the water NOT at once but little by little to the flour, and whisk to combine. (I made a blogpost about How to Make Dough) Knead it until it becomes smooth from inside out. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and set it in room temperature for 15 min.

  2. In the meanwhile, remove the chicken’s neck, chop the chicken into small bite-sized pieces (with bone), without chicken's head and feet and the skin still intact. Wash them to remove the blood and bone fragments. Add them to boiling water for 2-3 minutes, strain out all excess water.

  3. Prep the rest of the ingredients and display them on a plate, so it's easier while you put them in the pan.

  4. To fry and braise:  Warm up the pan (make sure the pan is dry), add the oil, heat it up over medium-high. Add sugar, whisk it, until the sugar is melted in the oil (you’ll see some bubbles in the melted sugar in the oil). Add the chicken, brown them.

  5. Add hot red chilies, the hard/white section of the scallion (keep the green pieces for at the end), ginger and potato. Mix. Add the water. Add star anise, paprika powder, chili flakes, soy sauce, salt and the Sichuan pepper powder. Mix. Bring it to boil, turn the fire down to medium-low heat to a simmer and let it braise for 15 min.

  6. Prepare boiling water (2L) for the noodle in a separate (sauce)pan.

  7. To make the noodle: cover lightly your palms, the working surface and the rested dough with a layer of oil. Use a rolling pin and roll out the dough in a rectangle form, (the dough should be slightly oily) turn it around and continue with the other side, put oil on it, if it feels dry. Roll it out until you reach the thickness of 2-3mm, make the surface even and smooth. Cut it into 3cm wide, long strips. (see the video tutorial) Press the cut strips with top of your three fingers to make your own finger prints on the noodle :) this makes the noodle very characteristic and give personality to it! If you want it to be thinner, you can bounce the fingerprint noodle at the table by holding the ends between your hands while you stretch them. Repeat this with the rest of the strips.

  8. To boil: Put the noodle into the boiling water, move the noodles around immediately so they won’t stick to each other. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Take the noodles out with a strainer, shortly wash it in cold water, so they stop cooking. Strain out all excess water.

  9. To serve: hot served on a big shared plate, 3-4 people per plate, the stew is plated on top of the noodles, so the noodle soak up all the aromatic sauce. Enjoy!!

Note
*
When you open the lid, make sure you avoid the steam burn.
* When you add the meat to the hot oil, be careful, the oil can splatter.

Tips
* Use a heavy-bottomed and deep frying pan with lid. This will help the ingredients heat and cook more evenly, furthermore using the lid prevents the oil from splattering.

chicken stew on a white plate
chicken stew on a white plate
chicken stew on a white plate

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HAVE YOU COOKED THIS?

Share your thoughts, notes in the Comments below or (hash)tag @dolanchickaliya #dolanchickaliya on Instagram so we can enjoy all the deliciousness!

 
Aliya :)