Northeast Chinese Luandun (东北乱炖 dōng běi luàn dùn）is a signature dish in the northern region formerly known as Manchuria. Heavily influenced by the culinary heritage of the nomads (Mongolian, Jin, Liao, Manchu) that historically occupied the region, northeast-style cuisine is often easy to make, great for serving in big groups, and incredibly rich in flavour. Luandun essentially is a stew that combines a lot of ingredients. The most common variants include pork belly, pork ribs, eggplants, tomatoes, stringless beans, potatoes, green peppers, cabbage, pumpkin, mushrooms glass noodles (粉条 fěn tiáo）, and dried black wood ear mushrooms (木耳 mù ěr).
Of course, one of the things that I love about Luandun (乱炖 luàn dùn) is, once you know how to make it, it’s very easy to create your own version of this dish depending on your cooking whims and the ingredients that are available in your household.
Origins of Luandun
One of the most popular northeastern cities, where this dish originates, is Harbin. It’s one of the major cities in the northeast region, and I always have very fond memories of the city’s winter because of the mesmerizing Ice and Snow Festival. The whole city turns into a magical world when the sun goes down and the lights are on. They have truly embraced the winter spirit and created their own ice kingdom to welcome travellers from all over the world. Besides the incredible winter scenery, local Luandun restaurants are another reason people visit the city every year during the festive seasons. Here are a few restaurant suggestions:
- Shanhetun Iron Pan Stew (Min’an Branch) – 山河屯铁锅炖（民安店）
Address: Min’an Street No. 29, Daoli District, Harbin, Heilongjiang
Phone: +86 451 5882 6688
- Gao Jia Xiao Yuan (Xiangfang Branch) – 高家小院（香坊店）
Address: Xiangfu Road No.67, Xiangfang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang
Phone: +86 451 51035799
- Bai Yi Da Di Guo (Qunli Branch) – 百一大地锅（群力店）
Address: No.518, Diwudadao Street, Qunli, Harbin, Heilongjiang
Phone: +86 451-51501891
How to Make Authentic Luandun
Luandun can be made in a variety of ways. Some might say it’s enough to cobble together a bunch of ingredients along with some glass noodles. The recipe we created for you in this article is chicken-based and to make it, you’ll need the ingredients in the photo below.
Now, let’s dive into the recipe!
Authentic Northeast Chinese Luandun (Chicken Stew) Recipe
Course: Main, StewCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Medium4
servings30
minutes30
minutesThis recipe shows you how to make a delicious authentic Northeast Chinese Luandun chicken stew that’s hearty and healthy.
Ingredients
500g chicken thigh fillet
4 x small-medium potatoes (300g)
4 x medium tomatoes
1 x bell pepper
1 x medium or large onion
5 x cloves garlic
6 pieces of Chinese leaf
200g stringless green beans
A hand full of sweet potato glass noodles
1 x tbsp bean paste
1 x tbsp tomato paste (optional)
1 x tsp sugar
¼ cumin powder
A pinch of ground white pepper
2 x tsp light soy sauce
Salt to taste
Directions
- Soak the glass noodles in warm water for at least 30 minutes or until they are soft. Chop 3 tomatoes, onions, and garlic into small pieces for the soup base. Put them in a bowl and set them aside.
- Cut the Chinese leaf into thin slices and the green beans, and potatoes into small chunks.
- Cut the bell pepper into small pieces and slice the remaining tomato into thin pieces. This is mostly for garnishing. Place them on a plate and set them aside.
- Cut your chicken thigh fillets into big chunks.
- Let’s make the soup base first. Heat up 1 tsp of vegetable oil in your saucepan. Add the soup base ingredients in with two shakes of salt and let it cook until the ingredients are soft. Add 2.5 cups of cold water and bring to a boil. Take a hand blender to blend it until it is smooth (careful not to burn yourself).
- Prepare a big enough pan and add 1 tsp of vegetable oil with 1 tbsp of bean paste. Gently heat it up. Add your chicken thighs in and stir fry them until all are nicely browned.
- Add your green beans and potatoes in and keep stir-frying for 4 -5 minutes. Give the vegetables a nice oil and bean paste coat.
- Add the soup in. It should cover all the ingredients. Add 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsp light soy sauce, ¼ tsp cumin powder, and a pinch of ground white pepper. You can also add 1 tbsp tomato paste if you have some, but it’s optional. Stir well.
- Add the softened glass noodles into the mix. If you bought the broad glass noodles, make sure they are completely soaked and soft before adding them to the stew.
- Put on the lid and let it stew for 20 minutes on medium-low heat. Monitor during this process to make sure your food doesn’t dry up and burn.
- Open the lid and gently lay on the tomato slices and small pieces of bell pepper as well as your sliced Chinese leaf. Put the lid on for a further 5 minutes.
- Garnish with some spring onion and white sesame seeds. Serve.
- I like to eat this with freshly cooked rice and cold kimchi. The taste is absolutely heavenly! We hope you enjoy it! 您慢用(nín màn yòng).
Try It Yourself!
And there you have it! Now you know how to make an authentic Northeast Chinese Luandun stew. Give it a go and let us know how it went by leaving us a comment below. If you do make this recipe, be sure to share it on Instagram and tag us @linschinesekitchen.
