Chicken Simmered in Tomato Sauce
鶏肉のトマト煮（小麦なし）
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
This is one of the Western-style main dishes that shows up on Japanese preschool lunch menus: bite-size pieces of skinless chicken thigh simmered gently in a tomato sauce sweetened with slowly cooked onion, a little ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Children take to it because the sauce is mild and slightly sweet, and simmering the tomatoes until their sharpness cooks off makes it easy on young palates. The trick that makes it work is coating the chicken in joshinko (Japanese rice flour) and baking it before it goes into the pot, so the pieces stay soft and hold their shape in the sauce. It is egg-free and dairy-free, and it goes just as well with rice as with bread.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 75 gchicken thigh (skinless)
- 37.5 gonion
- 60 gcanned diced tomatoes
Seasonings
- 0.1 gsalt
- 3.6 gjoshinko (Japanese non-glutinous rice flour)Fine flour milled from regular short-grain rice, used for chewy Japanese sweets like dango. Substitute: Plain rice flour (not glutinous/sweet rice flour).
- 2.3 gvegetable oil
- 45 gwater
- 0.3 ggarlic paste (tube)Grated garlic sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh garlic for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated garlic in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- 0.5 gconsommé bouillon (allergen-free)Japanese-style consommé stock granules or cubes, used as a Western-style soup base. This kind is made without egg and milk, but most recipes on this site that use it list wheat in their allergens, so check the label if you avoid wheat. Substitute: A chicken or vegetable bouillon powder or cube made without egg, milk or wheat (check the label).
- 1.5 gketchup
- 1.5 gWorcestershire sauce
- 1.5 gsugar
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- joshinko (Japanese non-glutinous rice flour) (上新粉)
- Fine flour milled from regular short-grain rice, used for chewy Japanese sweets like dango. Substitute: Plain rice flour (not glutinous/sweet rice flour).
- garlic paste (tube) (にんにくチューブ)
- Grated garlic sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh garlic for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated garlic in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- consommé bouillon (allergen-free) (コンソメ（アレルゲン不使用）)
- Japanese-style consommé stock granules or cubes, used as a Western-style soup base. This kind is made without egg and milk, but most recipes on this site that use it list wheat in their allergens, so check the label if you avoid wheat. Substitute: A chicken or vegetable bouillon powder or cube made without egg, milk or wheat (check the label).
- Worcestershire sauce (ウスターソース)
- Read the guide: Bull-Dog Worcestershire Sauce: Japan's Everyday Brown Sauce → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/bull-dog-worcestershire-sauce/
Directions
- 1
Rub the salt into the chicken to season it, then coat the pieces in joshinko, arrange them on a baking sheet, and bake in an oven preheated to 200°C (400°F) for about 10 minutes.
- 2
Slice the onion thinly, then cut the slices in half so they are half the length.
- 3
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion, and sauté well until soft and wilted. Add the water, canned tomatoes, garlic, and all of the seasonings, and bring to a boil.
- 4
Add the chicken and simmer until the sharpness of the tomatoes has cooked off and the sauce has thickened.
Coating the chicken in joshinko and baking it before it goes into the sauce keeps the meat tender and helps the pieces hold their shape while they simmer.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 151.5 kcal | 303 kcal | 151.5 kcal |
| Protein | 15.5 g | 30.9 g | 15.5 g |
| Fat | 6.1 g | 12.3 g | 6.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 11.4 g | 22.8 g | 11.4 g |
| Fiber | 1.4 g | 2.7 g | 1.4 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.6 g | 1.2 g | 0.6 g |
| Calcium | 18 mg | 36 mg | 18 mg |
| Iron | 0.9 mg | 1.8 mg | 0.9 mg |
| Potassium | 456 mg | 912 mg | 456 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 151.5 kcal | 15.5 g | 6.1 g | 11.4 g | 1.4 g | 0.6 g | 18 mg | 0.9 mg | 456 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 303 kcal | 30.9 g | 12.3 g | 22.8 g | 2.7 g | 1.2 g | 36 mg | 1.8 mg | 912 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
