Chicken and Snake Bean Stir-Fry

For several years, I have had an allergy to monosodium glutamate (MSG), which made eating out at Chinese restaurants difficult. Many restaurants today do not use MSG, many oblige and make you food without MSG, but I still found myself uncomfortable after a Chinese meal at any restaurant that obliged. Having grown up in India eating a lot of Chinese food (my mother grew up in Singapore and brought those flavors to our table), I didn't want to be deprived. Ching-He Huang's book, Ching's Chinese Food In Minutes, changed my (Asian) kitchen life! Incredible, easy, and quick recipes.

I had a few basic recipes down, such as Chicken and Broccoli, Simple Egg Fried Rice, Sweet Corn Chicken Soup. Her book helped me get more diverse with my Chinese cooking.

The other thing that I love about her recipes is that when she says a recipe will take 10 minutes to make, she means it! I managed to stir-fry this dish today while singing to keep my two-year-old son entertained. Served with brown rice, it is a healthy and balanced meal to have.

If you're buying chicken directly from your butcher you can ask him to cut in into thin strips to reduce your prep time even further. FreshDirect.com also sells chicken sliced into strips.

Ching says, "This is a stir-fry inspired by a lunch I had with 'Ah-e' (Aunty) in Beijing. She cooked a simple but delicious chicken and snake bean stir-fry, and this is my quick version."

Prep time: 5 minutes (plus 20 minutes soaking / marinating)
Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
250 grams / 9 oz skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
1 teaspoon Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch)
2 tablespoons groundnut oil (peanut oil)
1 garlic clove, crushed and finely chopped
1 dried Chinese mushroom, pre-soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, then drained and sliced
100 grams snake beans (Snake beans can be found in the vegetable section of a good Chinese supermarket, or use some trimmed French beans as a substitute)
50 grams / 2 oz toasted cashew nuts (I used peanuts instead, as a personal preference)
25 ml / 1 fl oz hot chicken stock
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
a dash of toasted sesame oil
1 pinch of ground white pepper

Method

1. Marinate the chicken in the rice wine or sherry and the dark soy sauce for 10-15 minutes (while the mushroom soaks)
2. Just before cooking, dust the chicken lightly with cornflour. Heat a wok over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. When the oil starts to smoke, add the garlic and mushroom and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the chicken and stir-fry for a few minutes until slightly browned.
3. Add the beans and stir-fry for 2 minutes until tender, then add the nuts.
4. Add the hot stock and season wtih the light soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper.
   Serve immediately.

Cook's tip: This was delicious when served immediately. I tried the left overs at night, and it was a bit dry.
To revamp it, add a sauce to it.
In a medium mixing bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon chili sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup water. Add 1/2 teaspoon cornflour, mix until smooth. In a hot wok bring the sauce to a boil, add left over chicken for a minute or two and remove.

Oyster Sauce Chicken with Ginger and Mushrooms

Comfort food for me are many things, Chinese food is high up on the list. My mother grew up in Singapore, so she cooked a lot of Chinese and Singaporean foods at home (in Mumbai, India). Lately, I've been loving cooking recipes from Ching-He Huang's cookbook, Ching's Everyday Easy Chinese. The reasons: Easy, Fast and Healthy. Once you have your pantry stocked with the ingredients she recommends, then you're all set to whip up a quick Chinese meal. All the ingredients she asks for are easily available in any Chinese supermarket, none of which are expensive. 


Her top 10 essential Chinese pantry ingredients are:

1. Light soy sauce
2. Dark soy sauce
3. Shaoshing rice wine
4. Toasted sesame oil
5. Five-spice powder
6. Sichuan peppercorns
7. Chinkiang black rice vinegar
8. Clear rice vinegar
9. Chili bean sauce
10. Chili sauce

This is one of Ching's own flavor combination recipe, inspired from the southern Chinese dishes from regions such as Canton and Fujian, where the combination of meat and seafood is very common. 


You may have noticed that many Chinese recipes call for vegetables to be cut on the diagonal. It is a simple Chinese cooking technique to expose more of the vegetable's surface area to heat to help it cook quicker and to absorb more of the seasonings and sauces. In this recipe the scallions are cut on the diagonal. 


Here is the revised recipe, hope you make it and enjoy it as much as we did! 


Serves 2–4 to share
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 9 minutes


Ingredients
1 lb boneless skinless chicken, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp peanut oil
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp Shaoshing rice wine, or dry sherry
5–7 shiitake mushrooms (I used button mushrooms)
2 large scallions, sliced on the diagonal


For the sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp chili sauce
7 tbsp cold vegetable stock


Method

1. Place the chicken in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and mix well to coat the chicken.
2. Pour all ingredients of the sauce in another bowl and stir together to combine.
3. Heat a wok over high heat until it starts to smoke and add the peanut oil. 
4. Add the ginger and fry for a few seconds, then add the chicken pieces and stir-fry another 4 minutes, stirring constantly. 
5. As the chicken starts to turn opaque, add the rice wine or dry sherry and cook for an additional 2 minutes, then add the sauce and bring to a boil. 
6. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the scallions. 
7. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Kung Po (Inspired) Chicken

I absolutely love Ching-He Huang's recipes. Her recipes are easy, quick and simply delicious! And this one is quite healthy. Tonight we were craving something spicy and Asian so Kung Po Chicken felt like the obvious decision. The reason this is 'inspired' is because I didn't add the cashews and swopped the red peppers for shiitake mushrooms and bok choy. However, the sauce is exactly as she wrote in the recipe. Read below for the improvised recipe. 


Quoting Ching-He Huang from her book Ching's Everyday Easy Chinese: This is a classic dish from Sichuan. It is named after Ding Baochen (1820–86), a governor of Sichuan; "Gong Bao" or "Kung Po" means "Palatial Guardian", in reference to his official title. I love this spicy-sweet dish, but can't stand versions of it made with oyster sauce or cabbage. In my view, it should be numbingly spicy, sweet and tangy. There are many variations of the dish and this is my home-style Western version. The tang comes from the Chinkiang black rice vinegar. 


Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook in: 10 minutes
Serves: 2–4 to share


Ingredients

For the sauce

7 tbsp cold vegetable stock

1 tbsp of light soy sauce

1 tbsp of tomato ketchup

1 tbsp of Chinkiang black rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp of hoisin sauce

1 tsp of chili sauce

1 tbsp of cornstarch

For the chicken

2 skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch slices
Salt and white ground pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch or potato flour


1 tbsp of peanut oil
2 tbsp of Sichuan peppercorns
4 dried red chilies
1 tbsp of Shaoshing rice wine or dry sherry
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4–5 baby bok choy, sliced
2 scallions, chopped into 1-inch lengths
Handful of dry-roasted cashews 


Method
Add all the ingredients of the sauce to a medium bowl and stir to combine.


Place the chicken in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. 
Add the cornstarch and mix well to coat the chicken pieces. 


Heat a wok over high heat until it starts to smoke and then add the peanut oil. 
Add the Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies and fry for a few seconds, then add the chicken pieces and stir-fry for 2 minutes. 
As the chicken begins to turn opaque, add the rice wine or dry sherry. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.


Pour in the sauce, bring to a boil.
Add the vegetables, and cook in the sauce with the chicken for another 2 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and the sauce has thickened and become slightly sticky in consistency. 


Add the scallions and cook for 1 minute.
Toss in the cashews, then transfer to a serving plate and serve immediately.