Japanese Cream Stew

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Japanese Cream Stew is the dish that gives you that warm and comforting feeling on those chilly evenings. This chicken cream stew has a combination of hearty ingredients like potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and broccoli. This one pot dish takes 30 or so minutes to cook and makes a huge portion, which is great for families or for meal prep.

The stew is decadent like clam chowder but light enough that you can eat many servings without that ‘heavy’ feeling. Serve with toasted bread or white rice to complement this delicious Japanese cream stew!

Use Japanese cream stew mix

I used instant cream stew mix for a convenient shortcut which makes the stew creamier and slightly sweeter. You can buy japanese cream stew cubes at the asian grocery store like hmart, 99 ranch or nijiya.

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED FOR YOUR JAPANESE CREAM STEW:

• 2 tbs unsalted butter
• 1 pound chicken thigh, boneless, cut in 1 inch pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 onion, cubed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• black pepper to taste
• ¼ cup white wine (sub with water if you don’t have wine) – takes the gaminess out of the chicken and balances the sweetness of the stew
• 4 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut in 1 inch pieces
• 2 carrots, peeled
• 1 teaspoon garlic seasoning
• ½ teaspoon everyday seasoning (blend of sea salt, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, coriander, onion, garlic, paprika & chili pepper) – optional but highly recommended!
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup unsalted chicken broth
• add half box or 1 pack Japanese cream stew mix – (store-bought mix) – similar to a béchamel sauce
• 1 cup whole milk (2% milk works)
• 1 head of broccoli, cut
• 10 mushrooms, sliced

STEPS TO MAKE THE JAPANESE CREAM STEW:

Prepare ingredients by chopping and cutting:

Step 1. Start by preparing your ingredients. Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces and chop the garlic, potato, carrot, and onion into small pieces.

Step 2. Slice the mushrooms and broccoli and set aside.

Saute ingredients in a large pot:

Step 3. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Step 4. Add the cut chicken and add 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper to the pot and cook for 2 minutes.

Next add wine, then broth:

Step 5. Add ¼ cup white wine to the pot. The white wine helps deglaze the pot and takes out the gaminess of the chicken. In addition, I’ve found the acidity of the wine balances the sweetness of the creamy sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Step 6. Add chopped potatoes, carrots, garlic seasoning, everyday seasoning, water and unsalted chicken broth to the pot. Stir everything together and boil for 12-15 minutes, covered.

Note: Check if the potatoes are tender by poking them with a fork. The potatoes should be soft but not break apart when poked.

Finish with milk & cream stew mix:

Step 7. Finally, add 1 cup milk, cut broccoli and sliced mushrooms. Use half box Japanese cream stew mix to the pot and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes until the broccoli cooks to your desired tenderness. If the sauce is too thick to your liking, add a few tablespoons of milk and stir.

Step 8. Serve hot by itself or with some toasted bread. It is also very delicious to eat the stew with white rice.

How To Serve

There are three different ways you can serve this stew:

1. Rice – white rice is usually served with this Japanese cream stew. The rice soaks up all the delicious flavors of the creamy chicken and it’s my favorite way to serve it!
2. Toasted bread – the crispy bread
3. By itself! – the stew is delicious on it’s own and isn’t too salty or heavy. You can eat lots of it at once and the taste resembles clam chowder in my opinion.

Additional Substitutions

If you want to change up the vegetables or meats for the Japanese cream stew, here are some of my suggestions below:

Vegetables

• corn – add some corn for additional sweetness
• peas – frozen peas would be a great add if you like them or have them on hand
• baby corn
• bamboo – the taste is mild and it would provide some crunch

Protein

• chicken breast – if you want to change to chicken breast, I would recommend to follow the directions until Step 6. Take the chicken out at Step 6 and then add it back in at Step 7 when the sauce has thickened. Finish cooking the chicken breast for a few minutes in the creamy chicken stew. I think this method would ensure that the chicken would be extra moist!
• shrimp – this is a great protein idea if you don’t eat chicken! I would recommend adding raw shrimp at the same time as the broccoli and mushroom in Step 7. This would ensure that the shrimp is not rubbery and cooked perfectly.

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