Chicken Broth with Vegetables

Rinse the chicken twice in cold water. In a large pot, bring 2.2 liters (approximately 2.5 quarts) of fresh water to the boil. Add the chicken, rice wine, and 1 tablespoon salt, and simmer the chicken about 1 hour over low heat. Soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water for about 20 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the broth and skim off about half of the fat from the broth. Use the chicken for another dish. Take mushrooms out of the soaking water, and separate the stems. Rinse the uncooked chicken breast with cold water, pat dry, and cut into about 12-cm- (approximately 4.5-inch-) long, 5-cm- (approximately 2-inch-) thick strips.

Blanch the bamboo shoots for 1 minute in boiling water. Drain. Soak the cilantro in warm water. Cut the bamboo shoots and ham into 12 strips. Take 1 shiitake mushroom, 1 chicken breast strip, 1 bamboo shoot, and 1 ham strip and tie them together with a stalk of cilantro to form a neat bundle. Repeat to make a total of 12 bundles.

Put the 12 bundles together in a bowl. Set the bowl on top of a heat-resistant overturned cup set into a pot. Pour about 3 cm (approximately 1.5 inches) of water in the bottom of the pot, cover, and simmer over high heat for 5–6 minutes to steam the bundles.