Clay Pot Chicken And Vegetables - cooking recipe

Ingredients

500 g chicken thigh fillets
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
6 dried Chinese mushrooms
2 small leeks
250 g orange sweet potatoes or 1 carrot
2 tablespoons peanut oil
5 cm piece gingerroot, shredded
1/2 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 teaspoons cornflour

Preparation

Wash chicken under cold water. Pat dry with absorbent paper.
Cut into small pieces. Place in a dish with the soy sauce and sherry, cover and marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Soak mushrooms in hot water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain, squeeze to remove excess liquid. Remove stems and chop caps into shreds.
Wash leeks thoroughly to remove all grit; cut leeks and sweet potato/carrot into thin slices.
Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade. Heat half the oil in a wok or heavy-based frying pan.
Carefully add half the chicken pieces and stirfry briefly until seared on all sides. Transfer to a flameproof clay pot or casserole dish; stirfry the remaining chicken and add to the clay pot.
Heat remaining oil in wok, add leek and ginger, stirfry for 1 minute. Add mushrooms, the remaining marinade, stock and sesame oil.
Transfer to the clay pot, add sweet potato/carrot and cook, covered, on the top of the stove over a very low heat for about 20 minutes (I cooked in the oven 160 degrees celcius for 20 minutes).
Dissolve cornflour with a little water and add to the pot. Cook, stirring, until the mixture boils and thickens.
Serve the chicken and vegetables at once with rice or noodles.