Easy Chicken Stew

Want a delicious meal but don't want to do too much heavy lifting?

Try this easy recipe which only takes 30 minutes of prep time but slow-cook it overnight and you'll wake up to a wonderful aroma in the morning, and ready-made dinners for a few nights!

Ingredients:

• 6-7 chicken thighs, fats removed
• 5 medium potatoes, each sliced into half
• 1/2 head of cabbage, sliced
• 1 bag of baby carrots
• 1 onion, sliced and quartered
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 can of tomato paste
• Chicken broth
• Peas
• Cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp Soysauce (Light)
• 1 Tbsp Soysauce (Dark)
• Salt & Pepper & sugar
• Bay Leaf (optional)

 Equipment:  Crockpot

Instructions:

(A)

1. Marinate chicken thighs with soysauce, 1 tbsp of salt and a dash of pepper.
2. Heat wok with oil to medium heat.
3. Add onions and fry. Then add garlic.
4. Add chicken and stir fry until the outside of the chicken is cooked and slightly brown. OK if the chicken isn't cooked since we're going to cook it a long time in the crockpot.
5. Add a bit of chicken broth to burn off the chicken drippings and add the tomato paste and mix well.

(B)

In the crockpot,

1. Add potatoes first, then cabbbage and then carrots and bay leaf.
2. Next, transfer the chicken with broth into the crockpot.
3. Add more broth until half-way mark. You don't have to completely cover the chicken because the vegetables will give out more water.
4. Set to slow for 8 hours. I usually do this overnight. 

(C)

1. Once the stew is ready, remove chicken pieces and debone them. The chicken will fall off the bones.
2. Remove the vegetables without the broth and set aside.
3. Take the liquid stew and boil to reduce to thicken the stew. To further thicken, use some stew and add 2-3 tbsps of cornstarch, mix well and throw it back in.
4. Add more salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar to taste.
5. When stew is boiling, add frozen peas.
6. Re-assemble chicken, vegetables and stew. 
7. Serve with rice or egg noodles.

Prep time: 30 minutes     Cook time: 8 hours