Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms is very similar to Shandong Fried Chicken. The chicken isn't blanched during cooking. Instead, the chopped pieces are placed directly into hot oil, where high heat helps to maximally reduce their moisture content.
This cooking requirement means that only freshly slaughtered chickens can be used for this dish.
If frozen chicken were used, the effect would be greatly diminished.
Plus, eating unblanched frozen chicken doesn't feel reassuring.
This step requires patience, needing prolonged stir-frying to allow any unpleasant odors in the chicken to evaporate with the steam.
Keep stir-frying until the oil in the pot becomes clear again before proceeding to the next step.
"I guess when people from Shandong ventured to the Northeast, they brought Fried Chicken with them. Then, they adapted it to the cold, icy conditions of the Northeast by adding locally foraged dried Hazel Mushrooms and vermicelli."
