Simmered Potatoes with Ground Chicken (Soboro-ni)
じゃが芋のそぼろ煮 · Jagaimo no Soboro-ni
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Soboro-ni is a homey Japanese dish where crumbled ground meat (soboro) is simmered with vegetables in a lightly sweetened dashi and soy sauce broth. Here the meat is chicken and the vegetable is potato, which soaks up the savory broth as it turns soft and fluffy. A final thickening with potato starch turns the cooking liquid into a glossy sauce that clings to every piece, so even small children can scoop it up easily with a spoon. The bright green peas add a pop of color that makes the dish look inviting on the plate.
Added. Open the recipe helper (bottom right) → ☰ Menu → 🛒 Shopping list to see the ingredients for your family size.
Printing uses the number of adults and children set under Ingredients, so set those first.
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 gpotato
- 12 gground chicken
- 3 gfrozen green peas
Seasonings
- 1.5 gvegetable oil
- 45 gbonito and kombu dashiJapanese soup stock made from dried bonito flakes and kombu kelp, the everyday base for soups and simmered dishes. Substitute: Instant dashi granules dissolved in water, or a light vegetable or chicken stock.
- 5.4 gsugar
- 3.5 gsoy sauce
- 0.9 gpotato starchJapanese katakuriko, a fine potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating food before frying. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness.
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- bonito and kombu dashi (かつお・昆布だし汁)
- Japanese soup stock made from dried bonito flakes and kombu kelp, the everyday base for soups and simmered dishes. Substitute: Instant dashi granules dissolved in water, or a light vegetable or chicken stock.
- potato starch (片栗粉)
- Japanese katakuriko, a fine potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating food before frying. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness. Read the guide: Katakuriko (Japanese Potato Starch) and What to Use Instead → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/katakuriko-potato-starch/
Directions
- 1
Cut the potatoes into thick quarter-rounds (icho-giri: halve lengthwise, halve again, then slice crosswise).
- 2
Briefly boil the green peas and set aside.
- 3
Heat the oil in a pot and stir-fry the ground chicken. Add the potatoes from step 1, the dashi, and the sugar, and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
- 4
Add the soy sauce and continue simmering, then add the green peas from step 2. To finish, stir in the potato starch dissolved in water to thicken the sauce.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 108 kcal | 216 kcal | 108 kcal |
| Protein | 4.1 g | 8.1 g | 4.1 g |
| Fat | 3 g | 6 g | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 17.7 g | 35.4 g | 17.7 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.6 g | 1.2 g | 0.6 g |
| Calcium | 6 mg | 12 mg | 6 mg |
| Iron | 0.5 mg | 0.9 mg | 0.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 108 kcal | 4.1 g | 3 g | 17.7 g | 0.6 g | 6 mg | 0.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 216 kcal | 8.1 g | 6 g | 35.4 g | 1.2 g | 12 mg | 0.9 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.
