Special Feature: Intangible Cultural Heritage — Fusion with the World of Washoku Part 5: Simmered chicken breast and lobster à la jibuni —a new take on an old favorite
2022/2/25
This time round we have used chicken breast and lobster to give a new spin to a dish called jibuni, which is typical of the local cuisine of Kanazawa city in Ishikawa Prefecture, on the western coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu.
There are various theories on the roots of jibuni, and it appears that one of these claims that the dish has its origins in Western cuisine. This makes it an ideal choice for a fusion of Japanese and international cuisine.
Traditionally jibuni is made with slices of duck or chicken thighs that are sprinkled with flour or kudzu starch, and then simmered in a mixture of dashi stock, soy sauce, sugar, mirin (sweet sake) and sake (rice wine). Here, however, instead of dashi we used a mixture of chicken bouillon and lobster stock.
In this case, to keep the chicken breast tender, instead of slicing it we coated the whole breast with flour and gently simmered it on a low heat. We also quickly parboiled the lobster before sprinkling it with flour and cooking it gently together with the chicken. Sprinkling the ingredients with flour in this way seals in their umami flavor, while at the same time thickening the stock to give the dish a rich taste.
Finally, we added a seasonal touch by garnishing the dish with truffles, but it could also be interesting to accent it with wasabi or ginger, or herbs and so on. If you would like to have a go at making this dish at home, you can try different approaches to it. For example, it goes equally well with a side dish of grilled vegetables or of vegetables simmered in the same stock as that used for the main dish.
There are various theories on the roots of jibuni, and it appears that one of these claims that the dish has its origins in Western cuisine. This makes it an ideal choice for a fusion of Japanese and international cuisine.
Traditionally jibuni is made with slices of duck or chicken thighs that are sprinkled with flour or kudzu starch, and then simmered in a mixture of dashi stock, soy sauce, sugar, mirin (sweet sake) and sake (rice wine). Here, however, instead of dashi we used a mixture of chicken bouillon and lobster stock.
In this case, to keep the chicken breast tender, instead of slicing it we coated the whole breast with flour and gently simmered it on a low heat. We also quickly parboiled the lobster before sprinkling it with flour and cooking it gently together with the chicken. Sprinkling the ingredients with flour in this way seals in their umami flavor, while at the same time thickening the stock to give the dish a rich taste.
Finally, we added a seasonal touch by garnishing the dish with truffles, but it could also be interesting to accent it with wasabi or ginger, or herbs and so on. If you would like to have a go at making this dish at home, you can try different approaches to it. For example, it goes equally well with a side dish of grilled vegetables or of vegetables simmered in the same stock as that used for the main dish.
MIYAHARA Yutaka