Usually in China, Chicken stew is made from a whole chicken. But I know for sure that my husband and I cannot finish a whole chicken stew. So I just used a whole boneless chicken leg instead.

1. Soak dry 5 or 6 shiitake mushroom in 2 cups water. (Rinse under water first to remove all the dirt). Keep the shiitake water. Remove the stem and cut into 4 halves.
2. Cut chicken into one-bite size.
3. Heat a pan. Since there is fat in chicken, so actually, no need to add any oil. Sear the chicken to let the fat out.
4. When chicken turns white, add in 2 tsp cooking wine. Stir fry till chicken got  dry again.
5. Add in 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce and 1/2 1 tsp sugar (you can adjust it according to your preference). Stir fry to let chicken be coated with sauce.
6. Add in shiitake, stir fry for about 2 mins.
7. Pour in shiitake water covers all ingredients. Add in spices (ginger, star anise, bay leaf), I also added in 1 chopped carrot.
8. Lid on. Simmer with low heat for 20-30 mins to make sure chicken is completely cooked.
9. Lid off and reduce sauce with high heat.

Yum!