Lee How Fook – Chicken and Mushroom Hot Pot with Baby Bok Choy

My family has been eating at the same Chinese restaurant – Lee How Fook – going on 40 years. Located on the edge of Philadelphia’s Chinatown, generations of the same family have cooked for and served us, just as generations within my family have dined there. We were originally introduced to Lee How Fook by my grandmother’s Chinese friend and coworker in the early 1980s, who suggested it as an unpretentious spot to enjoy authentic, rather than Americanized, Chinese food. We have been dining there ever since.

We have had small meals in the main part of the restaurant, and multicourse banquets in the back room, celebrating everything from anniversaries to retirements. I remember my 30-something-ish cousin, who now has a child of her own, crying on a blanket laid out on the floor as a baby. Every time I visit my parents in Philadelphia, it is an essential stop on the itinerary.

The menu is extensive, but I don’t think anyone in my family has looked at it for years. Our order is always the same – subgum wintermelon soup, shumai and dumplings, sometimes a vegetarian Buddha roll, salt baked shrimp and squid, pan fried noodles with mushrooms, fried oysters, half a roast duck, half a fried chicken, snow pea leaves, American broccoli in oyster sauce, chicken and mushroom hot pot, and a big bowl of noodle soup for my daughter. These are the dishes to order at Lee How Fook. Over the years we have tried other menu items, always returning to these classics. You can find much better Sichuan dishes at other restaurants (it’s not the place for spicy food), and the Americanized menu items we leave to others.

I have tried re-creating some of these dishes in my home kitchen. My home-cooked versions of salt baked shrimp and pan fried noodles with mushrooms are definitely passable, even if they don’t quite reach Lee How Fook caliber. My noodle soup has evolved more into spicy or vegan ramen, diverging from the restaurant’s version. I’ve learned to make excellent dumplings and broccoli in oyster sauce (ginger broccoli), but I think the fried chicken and roast duck are better left to the professionals with restaurant-grade equipment.

The one dish I have tried to re-create, but struggled with over the years, is the chicken and mushroom hot pot. The hot pot, better known as a clay pot or sand pot, does not refer here to the Chinese meal in which you dip various bites of food in a warm and often spicy broth. Rather, it is a ceramic cooking vessel in which food is cooked with a tight fitting lid. Similar to a Japanese donabe, ingredients can be boiled, braised, or steamed. At Lee How Fook it arrives at the table bubbling, a puff of aromatic steam released when the clay lid is removed. Inside, chicken, shitake mushrooms, bok choy, and scallions, are braised in a flavorful, ginger-scented cooking liquid.

I bought an inexpensive clay pot at a Chinese grocery store years ago, but it has mostly sat on a shelf in my basement. I’ve tried to re-create Lee How Fook’s hot pot a number of times, with only minimal success. But a week or two ago something triggered me to try again. I did a little research and found an excellent recipe for Clay Pot Chicken with Mushroom from Rasa Malaysia. I modified it only slightly, and the result is a simple yet delicious replica of that served at Lee How Fook.

With the addition of Chicken and Mushroom Hot Pot with Baby Bok Choy, my repertoire of dishes served at my favorite Chinese restaurant grows. I can cook some of the food my family has enjoyed for years, even when I can’t travel to Philadelphia. Of course none of my dishes will ever be a real replacement for a visit to Lee How Fook.

Chicken and Mushroom Hot Pot with Baby Bok Choy

You can purchase an inexpensive ceramic hot pot or clay pot at many Chinese grocery stores. Because they are made of clay, hot pots must be treated with care and never exposed to high heat or rapid temperature changes, and never heated without at least a little liquid inside, lest they crack. In addition, hot pots should be seasoned and cleaned carefully. It pays to do some quick research if you plan on using one. Of course a hot pot is not essential to make this dish. An enameled pot or even a wok will do fine, although you will miss out on the beautiful serving dish or drama when presenting it to your guests.

Serves 4, about 1 hour

8 to 10 dried shitake mushrooms, soaking water reserved

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite-size pieces

3 Tbsp. Shaoxing cooking wine or dry sherry, divided

¾ Tbsp. cornstarch

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. oyster sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

½ tsp. white pepper

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced

1 8-oz. can sliced bamboo shoots, drained

4 small or 1 large baby bok choy, roughly chopped, thicker stems separated from finer leaves

3 or 4 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

1. Soak dried shitake mushrooms in enough boiling water to cover for at least a half hour, until softened. Remove and discard stems and cut mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Reserve soaking liquid.
2. Combine chicken, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine, and cornstarch in a bowl and marinate for at least 15 minutes.
3. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of Shaoxing cooking wine to a small bowl, and combine with soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper. Stir to combine and set sauce aside.
4. Place cold hot pot on stove and add vegetable oil and sliced ginger. Once these ingredients are in the cookware, turn the heat to low. Cook and stir for several minutes until the ginger starts to sizzle. (If you are not using ceramic cookware, you can be less concerned about the level of heat.)
5. Turn heat to medium and immediately add chicken. Stir fry for several minutes.
6. Add the drained mushrooms, a half cup of the mushroom soaking water, bamboo shoots, and reserved sauce and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.
7. Stir in the thick stems of baby bok choy and cover. Cook for about 5 minutes.
8. Stir in the baby bok choy leaves and scallion pieces and cover. Cook for an additional minute or two.
9. Bring to the table with lid on, removing it to release aromatic steam. Serve with rice.

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