After having nice spring weather the past few weeks, the rainy and cold winter days returned to the Bay Area. Cold weather always makes me want to eat comfort food so today I want to share this easy stew recipe to warm us up.
If you chop everything and prepare all the ingredients before cooking, the actual cooking time is pretty quick. Ever since my friend recommended me to add canned tuna into the stew, I started to add it as a secret ingredient in my stew as well. The tuna adds a savory flavor and offers additional complexity to the palate.
Serve the stew with rice or bread. I hope this stew will make you and your tummy warm tonight. For the leftover stew, remove the potatoes and you can actually keep it in the freezer for a quick meal another time.
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- 5 chicken thighs (5 thighs or 2 breasts)
- Kosher salt (or sea salt)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butterr
- 1 onion (halved lengthwise and sliced)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3½ cup milk
- 2 potatoes (cut into small pieces)
- 1 carrot (cut into small pieces)
- 1 cup corns (frozen)
- 8 mushrooms (sliced)
- 1 can tuna in oil (drain 90% of oil)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cube vegetable bouillon (optional)
- 2 cup broccoli florets
- ½ cup heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- Cut the chicken and season with salt and pepper (I put quite a bit – just a little bit more than usual). If the chicken breasts are thick, follow Kannon-Biraki and Sogigiri cutting techniques.
- Cut vegetables.
- In a Dutch oven (or large pot), heat butter on medium heat and sauté onion and chicken.
- When the chicken is cooked, slowly stir in flour and mix well.
- Slowly stir in milk. During this process, constantly scrape off the bottom of the pot with wooden spoon because the flour will burn on the bottom of pot.
- Add potatoes, carrots, corns, mushrooms, tuna, bay leaves, and bouillon. Cover the pot with lid and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low (simmering) and cook for another 20 minutes. Make sure to stir once in a while.
- Add broccoli and heavy whipping cream. Cover to cook another 5-10 minutes until the broccoli is done to your liking.
- Serve with rice or bread. Season with freshly ground black pepper before you eat.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
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Lyn
Hi Nami! I was browsing thru your blog looking for Japanese curry recipes and I saw this white stew that caught my eyes!:D
I love all kinda creamy stew sauces and this looks great! 😀
Nami
Hi Lyn! This is my kids’ favorite dish! Well they love curry too, but I can make this one without Japanese White Stew Roux (we have the similar roux just like curry roux). Now that it’s pretty cold in SF, I feel like I should cook this soon. Haha I forgot about this. Thanks for your kind comment!
Lyn
Hi Nami! You’re most welcome and tks for your congrats for me over at CG’s side! (I think I better thank you here personally coz I’m not sure if you subscribe to her comments follow-up) 😀
Oh! Great! I’ll be staying tune in for your another version of the White Stew! 😀
It’s very hot and humid here in SG most of the time 🙁
Nami
Hi Lyn! Oh you are welcome! I was really happy for you! I check comments back when I add new comments (esp. for people who already response). But thank you! We’ll see. I have so many new dishes that I need to cook to post on this site… Plus you are right, it’s summer season. Today SF is cold again. I sort of miss warm weather. As I get older, cold weather is too painful. LOL.
Lyn
Hi Nami! Tks! You’re always so sweet! 😀
Sure sure, no hurry and it’s better for you to get more impt things done 1st, I can understand how rushing and difficult it is when you have so many new dishes that you wish to share here ASAP but with limited time given. 🙁
SG is always summer whole year round but these recent years are getting worse. Imagine I’ll get sweaty and sticky even when staying at home the whole day and it hasn’t been raining, maybe only once for the past few weeks. Think maybe we should just swap for once. LOL
Do take gd care of your health. 🙂
L
Hi Nami!
I’ve never commented before but I just finished making the dish and saw that this particular post didn’t have too many comments so I thought I’d leave one.
It turned out great! (A bit on the sweet side. I think it might be the corn.) And it really does have that comfort food feeling. I like the flavor the bay leaves add. Also, I didn’t have vegetable bouillon so I ended up using chicken bouillon (which I have a lot of!). I will definitely make this again!
Nami
Hi L! Thank you so much for writing the feedback and I really appreciate it. I’m glad it turned out great and you liked it. 🙂 It’s so great to hear from readers and thanks again for stopping by to let me know!
Kitty
Hi there Nami,
I know you posted this recipe over a year ago but I just came across it yesterday, tried it and it’s fantastic! I left out the butter (didn’t have any) and used some chicken stock (happen to have some) to replace one of the cups of milk and it still turned out great. Your recipe was exactly what I had been looking for!
Nami
Hi Kitty! Thank you for trying this recipe! I know the picture needs to be updated, and even so you still gave it a try. Thank you! I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Bae
Hi, i came across this recently, and it looks amazing! The only problem is that I’m vegetarian, would it be fine to take the chicken out, or substitute with tofu?
Nami
Hi Brae! Sure, you can take out the meat. 🙂 If you add tofu, please add it right before you serve… all you need to do is to heat up tofu (you don’t have to “cook” it). If you add earlier, tofu may break into pieces. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Bae
I just tried this recipe with my family, and it was delicious! Thank you for the tips!
Nami
Thank you so much for your feedback, Bae! I’m glad to hear you liked it. 🙂
紅
ルー無しで作るの初めてでした！家族内では大好評！ 「とろけるクリームシチュー」の味に似てたので嬉しかったです (一番近い日本食スーパーは車で一時間程遠い所に引っ越しましたのでもう簡単に買えません)。弟にリンク送る程大好きでした♡ レシピどうも有難うございました！ 今度はメンチカツに挑戦したいと思ってます。
Nami
紅さん、
コメントどうもありがとうございます！とっても嬉しかったです。ルーなしのシチュー気に入ってもらえて良かった～。私もむかーし日本のスーパーから離れたところに住んでいたので、状況、とてもよく分かります。
メンチカツもシチューも３年前くらいの写真で、正直美味しそうに写ってないのに、レシピを試してみようと思ってもらえて、とても嬉しいです。ありがとう！
Amanda
Hi Nami, Thank you very much for sharing this recipe. I am a beginner cook and your recipes are easy to follow and it’s always delicious.
Nami
Hi Amanda! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. Thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
Evelyn
Hi Nami! I tried a lot of you recipe and I like it all, just some of the recipe you post I cannot give it a try here since I couldn’t find the ingredients here in China (I am Chinese-Indonesian with Taiwanese husband living in China). I am so excited to find this white stew reciepe, back when I was in the States my husband (that time still bf) loves this but he always bought the roux and never saw it over here (hard to find curry roux too here). I will defenitly make this one for him , I guess make a surprise dinner for him…. I bet he will love it too! Thank you for all your recipe, I keep checking it everyday for my dinner menu with my family!
Nami
Hi Evelyn! Thank you so much for writing! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my recipes! Hope you and your husband will enjoy this! My Taiwanese husband also likes this recipe! 😀
Eunji
Wow, I’ve been looking for this recipe everywhere! My Japanese friend would always cook this with the Japanese White Stew Roux and I loved it! I can’t find it anywhere here in hawaii but now I can just make it from scratch 🙂 Thank you <3
Nami
Hi Eunji! It’s really easy to make and MSG free. 🙂 I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Reen
Hi Nami, I can’t find vegetable boullion here, so if I’m going to use chicken stock powder instead, how much do I have to use? Thanks in advance
Nami
Hi Reen! So sorry for my late response. I don’t use bouillon cubes anymore in my kitchen and use (liquid) stock instead. You could replace 1/3 or 1/2 of milk with vegetable/chicken broth (it’ll be less milky). With all the ingredients in the stew, you will have plenty of flavor, so you can simply skip bouillon and season with salt (it helps bring out the flavors, so taste the stew and don’t be afraid to season with salt). Hope this helps! 🙂
Reen
I just make it again today and then I realized that you forgot to tell us when to put the mushroom. Luckily I can tell by the picture 🙂
Nami
Thanks so much for noticing! I edited! 🙂
md Asif iqubal
Really this very good receipe of the white stew.i have try and make delicious food
Nami
So happy to hear you tried it, and thank you for writing! 🙂
Angie Lee
Hi Nami..I would like to try this recipe. If I don’t want to be white sauce what shall I add so that it can be a shade darker?
Nami
Hi Angie! Hmm… different sauce means different ways to cook from the beginning. It’s not as simple to explain… (that will be another recipe). If you have a particular recipe you’re looking, let me know. 🙂
Jessica
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was curious about trying white stew after seeing characters on a Japanese show eating it for dinner. This was one of the best stew/soup I’ve ever had. Sort of reminds me of potato soup, delicious. Thanks again! I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Nami
Hi Jessica! I’m so happy to hear you liked it! I have to thank creators for Japanese anime and dramas because many people who watched tried my recipes like you! Thank you for giving it a try and I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Jen
Hi! Do you think I can make this in the slow cooker?
Nami
Hi Jen! You’ll need to make the white sauce separately as you can’t do it in the middle of slow cooking process. I think you’ll need to adjust the recipe quite a bit to make it work in a slow cooker. 🙂
Ying
I just made this today and my family loved it! It reminded us of chowder, and would be lovely with bread. My husband suggested adding clams next time for added brininess. Thanks for the great recipe!
Nami
Hi Ying! I’m so glad your family enjoyed it! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and writing your kind feedback here. 🙂 xo
Erin
This looks really interesting to me. I can’t have milk or flour. Do you know if anybody has ever made a similar stew, using tofu to make the creamy white sauce? I wonder if that would work.
Thank you so much for your videos, Instagram, and blog. I really enjoy them!
Take care,
Erin (from Livermore)
Nami
Hi Erin! Can you use soymilk and rice flour or GF flour? They work the same way. 🙂 Tofu is chunkier, so it can be a good ingredient in the stew, but I believe it’s not good to be used for soupy texture. Thank you for following JOC! You’re in the Bay Area too! 🙂
Angie Lee
Hi Nami..I just bought a packet of Hokkaido Cream Stew Roux. Not sure how to use it. Hope you can share a recipe using the Cream Stew Roux?
Nami
Hi Angie! I know that brand. 🙂 You basically make it exactly like how you make Japanese curry (have you made it?). We usually use chicken for white stew. So after saute onion, add in chicken, and then vegetables. Add water (or chicken broth) and cook… 20 mins or so. Then add roux and ready to eat! 🙂 Oh, if you add broccoli or softer vegetables, add in later so it doesn’t get mushy. I recommend parboiling them and add to heat up (not to cook). Hope this helps!
Angie Lee
Hi Nami, really appreciate your reply. Yes I made the Japanese Curry before. For the measurement, I basically have to follow the Japanese Curry recipe right?
Nami
Hi Angie! Um… forgot the amount of liquid. Not sure if they were the same. What I meant was the same/similar cooking method. Liquid amount may be different. Can you see the instruction on the box? I’ll be happy to help if you tweet me the picture, then I can read and explain.
Angie Lee
The roux taste is it the same with your white stew recipe?
Nami
Hi Angie! Store bought roux and homemade roux taste slightly different. I don’t want to discourage but store bought roux always taste like some kind of artificial taste (the thick texture etc). It tastes good, but not the same as homemade white stew. 😉
Angie Lee
Dear Nami, I just email to you from your insta account. I took a picture for you to see.
Nami
I responded. 🙂
Bernice
Hi Nami,
Must I use whipping cream for this recipe? Is there any non-dairy substitute I can use in place of it? My hubby is lactose intolerant but I’m keen to try out this recipe (looks real delicious). Thanks!
Nami
Hi Bernice! Sure! Heavy cream will give more rich flavor. 🙂 Non-dairy… I haven’t tried with non-dairy before for White Stew, so I can’t tell what’s the best option in terms of texture and flavor.
Angie Lee
Hi Nami, is it possible to cook this white stew with Instant Pot? Shall I add in everything including the cream and broccoli and then pressure cook it for 15 minutes?
Nami
Hi Angie! I believe the heat is too high and the milk proteins will be separated, which result in curdling. So I don’t usually recommend using milk in pressure cooking. 🙂 One thing you can do is to cook the ingredients first in IP, then make bechamel sauce outside of the IP (like in a frying pan or pot), and then after ingredients are cooked, you add the bechamel sauce. Just use saute mode only, and don’t leave it – it can burn and curdle, so just to keep it warm. Hope that helps!