Chicken with Mushrooms in Cream Sauce

We just had this dish for dinner tonight and it's so good I had to post it right away. It's not an original recipe, I found it in Yummy September 2008 issue, page 63 called "Lola Virginia'sAsadong Manok de Carajay" a family recipe shared by Vanna Calalang. I'm using my own name for this dish and tweaking a thing or two: (1) the volume of cream used and other ingredients. Tetra bricks of cream come in 250ml sizes and this recipe calls for 200ml. What will I do with 50ml of cream?! (2) I'm rewriting the instructions. There are a couple of steps they failed to mention and an ingredient that doesn't pop up anywhere in the instructions. Below is how I did this dish a few hours ago.

Those two aside, this recipe is definitely worth a try. Again, a new home classic for Pao and I. :-)

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into 8 to 10 pieces (Roughly 1.4 Kg)
2 medium sized red onions, chopped
4 Tablespoons soy sauce (Gotta use Silver Swan Lauriat for this. Avoid Japanese soy sauce for Pinoy recipes)
3 small laurel leaves, crushed
cooking oil for frying
1+1/4 cup water (hot to facilitate quick cooking)
250 ml cream (1 brick)
1 small can of button mushrooms, drained and sliced
1 cube chicken bouillon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


Directions:
1. Marinate chicken in soy sauce, crushed laurel leaves and chopped onions for 1 hour.

2. When ready, fry the marinated chicken pieces in oil until golden brown and the chicken stops bleeding. Honest, I made sure the chicken was relatively cooked before I continued. Drain and set aside. This makes for a less oily dish.

3. Combine the leftover marinade and 1 cup of water in the saucepan and simmer until the onions are tender. (I like onions that disappear in stews.)

4. Add the chicken to the simmering marinade, cover and cook until the chicken is done and tender. You'll know is done if you check the thigh part and cut a small incision to the bone. It's done when the bone is white-ish or you don't see any red parts.

5. Add the buttons, cream and the chicken bouillon dissolved in 1/4 c hot water. Stir until everything is incorporated. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Season with black pepper. No need for salt as the soy in the marinade and the bouillon will supply the salty flavor.

Serve with steamed white rice. Enjoy! :-)