So this was never intended to be an official blog recipe. It was a typical Saturday night dinner (of late anyway), where we had been busy all day and I was trying to unwind by whipping up something tasty (with whatever I had in the pantry and fridge), but nothing too complicated all the while enjoying a *quiet* G&T. But no, Mr-soon-to-be-threenager had other ideas, throwing a 30 minute tantrum about having a bottle of bubbles being taken off him in the bath after he snatched them of his sister. It all sounds so banal typed out here… maybe because it was. But is it TOO much to ask for parents to have a peaceful Saturday night dinner? Sighhhhh…. obviously it is.
Oh well. Anyhoo, this one is for my friend Dr Fauzia, who requested the recipe on the P&F FB page. It is another one that was just made up on the spot… but has all the elements of a good Chinese dish, and utilised whatever sauces I had in the pantry and fridge. It’s probably a good guide for what I would recommend you have in your pantry if you want to become a master of cooking Chinese food 😉
Please excuse the approximated quantities… I really do just actually cook by using “a pinch of this and a shake of that” (my mum used to call this “agak agak” which roughly translates to “cooking by estimating as you go”) but I am generous with my pinches and shakes and I taste the dish all along the way. You will find that if you use this recipe and vary the quantities of the different sauces used, then you can really change the taste up quite a lot.
In the pics in the gallery above, I served them with wilted snow pea shoots… Nom nom nom. This one is for you Fauz!
STIR FRIED CHICKEN, BABY CORN AND STRAW MUSHROOMS
INGREDIENTS
- 1 small brown onion – chopped finely
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- ~7cm of fresh ginger – microplaned
- 6 chicken fillets cut into strips
- A can of straw mushrooms 425g drained and rinsed (get these from Chinese grocery store – Woolies used to have them… haven’t seen them there now in aaages)
- Can of baby corn 425g drained and rinsed
- ~3 generous lugs of oyster sauce (2-3 tbs?)
- Couple of shakes of sesame oil (maybe 1-2 tsp? This ingredient is key, but don’t overdo it or your dish will taste bitter)
- Whatever remained in the bottom of my bottle of kecap manis (sweet, sticky Indonesian soy sauce) – maybe about 4 tbs??
- Splash of soy (to taste – instead of salt)
- Good few grinds of black pepper
- Splash of Chinese Shao Xing cooking wine (?about a capful)
- Small tin of coconut milk (165mL)
- 2 heaped tsp cornflour mixed with a little cold tap water
METHOD
- Heat a little vegetable/canola oil in your wok/deep fry pan
- Fry your onion, garlic and ginger until aromatic/softened then add your chicken
- Once chicken is browned, add your oyster sauce, sesame oil, kecap manis and black pepper
- Add your baby corn and mushrooms
- Fry until sauce starts to caramelise slightly and then add your coconut milk (I usually rinse out the can with a little water and add that too)
- Heat until bubbling, then add your cooking wine and a splash of soy (to taste)
- Boil/simmer for around 5 min and whilst still bubbling, add your cornflour and water and stir to thicken.
Serve with steamed rice! I like to use a 50:50 mix of brown and white rice done in the rice cooker à looks more interesting, the texture is a little more unusual and I feel like I am being healthier!
Let me know if you try it!!
xxDr Megs
