What is Japanese Cream Stew?
Japanese cream stew (クリームシチュー) is one of many “yoshoku dishes,” a type of Japanese dish with Western influence. Made with chicken thigh and a variety of vegetables such as broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots, Japanese cream stew is somewhat similar to the French stew, “Blanquette de veau.”
However, the main difference between French “blanquette de veau” and Japanese cream stew is that blanquette de veau is made with veal rather than chicken.
Japanese cream stew is supposed to be a family dish. It uses less sophisticated ingredients so that it can be enjoyed by the whole family, including kids. It’s even on the Japanese school lunch menu!
How I Developed This Recipe
When it comes to making Japanese cream stew, a lot of people use store-bought roux in Japan. However, I’ve discovered that you can make a delicious cream stew without it using ingredients that are easy to find almost anywhere.
As I was putting this recipe together, I made sure to keep it simple and easy to follow. My aim was to create a cream stew from scratch using ingredients that are easy to find all over the world.
The result is a simple recipe that gives this classic dish a homemade touch!
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Boneless chicken thighs: Cut into bite-sized pieces. Chicken breast is a leaner alternative. Other alternatives include bacon, salmon, and seafood mix.
- All-purpose flour: For coating chicken and thickening stew.
- Olive oil: Substitute with other oils if unavailable.
- Yellow onion: Thinly sliced. White onions are a suitable substitute.
- Vegetables: Potatoes, carrots, red bell peppers, and broccoli, all in bite-sized pieces. Alternative ingredients would be sweet potatoes, sweet corn, mushrooms, asparagus, and zucchini.
- White wine: Optional. Exclude if avoiding alcohol.
- Milk: Always use whole milk for a richer flavor.
- Chicken stock cube: I used Knorr’s chicken bouillon cube.
- Heavy cream: Enhances stew richness.
- Grated cheese: Hard cheeses like Parmesan or Pecorino are recommended.
- Unsalted butter: Controls salt level in the dish. If using salted butter, reduce other salty ingredients.
- Parsley: Finely chopped for garnish.
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Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Japanese Chicken Cream Stew at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
Wash and cut the vegetables according to this list:
- Carrots roughly chopped into bitesize pieces
- Potatoes roughly cut into bitesize pieces
- Broccoli cut into bitesize florets
- Bell pepper cut into small cubes
- Onion thinly sliced
The size of the vegetables is quite important for this recipe. They should be small enough to cook quickly but not so small that they fall apart when simmering in the broth. You should also take care to cut the vegetables into similar sizes so that they cook evenly. Most of them are added to the pot at the same time.
Cut the chicken into bitesize pieces, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper, and then coat with a thin layer of flour. The flour will protect the chicken and help create a delicious crust, in turn each piece will pick up more flavour and help the broth stick to the surface.
This step not only improves the taste and texture of the chicken but will also contribute to thickening and flavoring the broth later.
Heat a pot or large pan on medium-high and add a drizzle of oil. (I used olive oil.)
Once hot, add the chicken and fry until browned all over. Once fully sealed, remove the chicken from the pan and set aside for later.
Using the same pan, pour in a little more oil and add the onions, carrots, potatoes and bell peppers altogether. Fry for about 4-6 minutes or until the onions are slightly softened.
Place the chicken back in the pan and add flour and white wine. Mix over the heat for about 3 minutes.
Lower the heat and add the whole milk and chicken stock cube. (I use Knorr chicken stock cubes in this recipe.) Mix thoroughly until the chicken stock cube is dissolved.
I lower the heat at this point to prevent the milk from heating up too quickly which can scold the milk and make it curdle. Bringing the heat up slowly on a lower setting will ensure the stew is smooth; be careful not to let it boil from this point. Gentle simmer is best!
Add the broccoli, butter and grated parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly, add the cream and then mix again.
Continue to simmer until the potato and carrots are softened and the broth is slightly thickened, this usually takes about 8-10 minutes. Mix occasionally to prevent the ingredients burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan.
I recommend serving Japanese cream stew with warm toasted baguette!
Enjoy!
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsFAQ
Curry rice and nikujaga are probably the most common comfort foods eaten at home in Japan in the winter. These dishes were originally arranged in Japan after the Meiji era (1868-1912) when meat consumption became common.
The history of cream stews, though, is a mystery. One cookbook published in 1872 lists beef and pork stews and vegetable stews such as tomato stew, but there is no description of what appears to be a cream stew made with chicken.
Although records of a similar white-sauce dish have been around since the Taisho era (1912-1926), it was not until after 1945 that its existence became widespread. It is said that the original cream stew was created as a school lunch when the food situation was not good, and the government took the lead in providing nutritious meals to children.
However, skimmed milk powder was initially used instead of milk to keep costs down. Over time, milk and cream became more common cooking ingredients used to make the cream stew as we know it today.
In 1966, an event occurred that would further change the history of cream stew. House Foods launched a “Stew Mix”. The development of this product began with the idea of recreating the white stew that was popular at school lunches as a powdered product that could be easily made at home. From there, cream stew spread as a common household dish in Japan.
Many families still make a cream stew using pre-made roux cubes. However, it’s surprisingly quick and easy to make at home from scratch (unlike curry rice), so there is no need to go through the trouble of buying expensive Japanese cream stew roux cubes and making cream stew abroad.
If you still want to use pre-made Japanese cream stew roux, I would recommend House or S&B but I personally want you to carry on reading this post to see how simple it is to make Japanese cream stew from scratch at home using accessible ingredients!
Japanese cream stew has appeared in the Japanese drama “Midnight Diner,” which is available on Netflix worldwide.
The cream stew appeared in episode 6 of the second season, a touching story about a mother and daughter. If you are interested, you can watch it on Netflix.
I hope you enjoy this Cream Stew recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Japanese Stew Recipes
Japanese Chicken Cream Stew (White Stew)
Ingredients
- 300 g boneless chicken thigh cut into bitesize pieces
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour 1 tbsp for coating and 1 tbsp for thickening the stew
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 200 g yellow onion thinly sliced
- 150 g potato waxy type, peeled and cut into bitesize pieces
- 150 g carrot peeled and cut into bitesize pieces
- 150 g red bell pepper cubed
- 2 tbsp white wine
- 400 ml whole milk
- 1 chicken bouillon cube I used knorr's chicken bouilon cube
- 100 g broccoli bitesize florets
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tbsp preferred shredded melting cheese preferably hard cheese like parmesan or pecorino
- 10 g unsalted butter
- ½ tsp parsley finely chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Sprinkle 300 g boneless chicken thigh with 1 pinch salt and 1 pinch ground black pepper, then coat with 1 tbsp all-purpose flour.
- Heat a pot or large pan on medium high and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Once hot, place the chicken pieces in the pot with the skin side down and stir fry until browned on all sides, then transfer to a plate and set aside for later.
- Using the same pan, fry 200 g yellow onion, 150 g potato, 150 g carrot and 150 g red bell pepper together for 4-6 minutes or until the onions have softened.
- Put the chicken back in the pot and add 2 tbsp white wine and 1 tbsp all-purpose flour. Mix thoroughly.
- Turn down the heat to a simmer and add 400 ml whole milk and 1 chicken bouillon cube. Mix until the stock cube is dissolved.
- Add 100 g broccoli , 1 tbsp preferred shredded melting cheese and 10 g unsalted butter, mix well and add 2 tbsp heavy cream.
- Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes are softened. Stir occasionally.
- Garnish with ½ tsp parsley and serve with warm baguette.
- Enjoy!
I love this recipe!
Is there a substitution for the white wine?
And also what kind of cream and grated cheese?
Thank you so much!
The white wine is only a small amount so it’s okay to omit it. I like using wine in stew type dishes because the acidity brings out the other flavours. You could use the same amount of apple cider vinegar or half white grape juice if want the acidity/sweetness of the wine.
I used double cream (37%) and parmesan cheese, hope that helps!