Like any good Chinese stir-fry, understanding the basics of stir frying is important. For this chicken with vegetable stir fry recipe, I used chicken breast. When using chicken breast, it is imperative that you don't overcook it. It will be tough since it is a leaner meat. If you are new to Chinese cooking and stir frying, you may want to start off with using chicken thighs. Thigh meat is considered dark meat, and since it has more fat, it is a little more juicy and forgiving. Overcooking it will not be as noticeable. There will be a little taste difference. It may also be helpful to read these blogs:
Chinese cooking essential ingredients reveals the 12 essentials ingredients for Chinese stir fry. You can cook the majority of Chinese dishes with these basic ingredients in your pantry.
Chinese stir frying basics reveals some tips and tricks to successful stir frying in the home kitchen.
Basics Chinese stir fry sauce reveals the foundational sauces on which other flavors are added to make the dish unique and different.
As you can tell by my blogs, I always like color and "crunch" in my dishes. For this chicken with vegetable stir fry , I'm using water chestnuts and the stalks of the Chinese broccoli stalks for the crunch. Yellow baby corn, Chinese broccoli leaves and carrots add a nice color. However, use the vegetable guide in Chinese stir frying basics to come up with your own chicken and vegetable stir fry.
CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLE STIR FRY
Ingredients
- 454 grams thinly sliced and marinated chicken breast See basic meat marinade recipe
- 4 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1 can sliced water chestnuts 8 oz. or 226 grams
- ½ can baby corn Use about 100g
- 2 medium carrots for color
- 350 grams Chinese broccoli
Aromatics
- 10 grams minced fresh garlic about 3 cloves
- 5 grams fresh sliced ginger optional
Instructions
Marinate Meat
Prep Vegetables
- Each group of vegetables should be cut to uniform sizes.
- Arrange your vegetables on a platter in order from that which will take the most time to the least time to cook.
- Mince garlic and ginger
Prep Sauce
- Make your "clear" sauce
Stir frying
- Heat wok / pan until it starts to smoke
- Add 2 Tbsp cooking oil and heat.
- Add aromatics and quickly stir.
- Quickly add meat and stir fry until 80% cooked. Remove from wok / pan.
- Add 2 Tbsp cooking oil and heat.
- Add the vegetable requiring the longest cooking time. Stir fry until 50% cooked. If the vegetable requires more intense heat, cover the pan / work with a lid for a few seconds. (You can also add a little water /chicken stock to quickly steam the vegetable.)
- Add the next vegetable. Stir fry. If your pan is tool small, remove the vegetable and place it on a platter. If not, continue to add vegetables until all the vegetables are 90% cooked.
Small pan stir frying
- If you have a small pan, stir your sauce as the cornstarch will settle to the bottom of the container.
- Add sauce to the pan. Allow your sauce to cook and thicken
- Add all your meat and vegetables together in the pan. Stir the vegetables and meat quickly to coat all the ingredients with sauce.
- Serve immediately.
Wok stir frying
- Add meat back into the wok.
- Stir your sauce as the cornstarch will settle to the bottom of the container.
- Drizzle sauce along the side of the wok to catch the heat as it descends into the wok.
- Allow the sauce to thicken. Stir the vegetables and meat quickly to coat all the ingredients with sauce.
- Serve immediately.
This was soooo delicious, but I think I made a mistake measuring somewhere because it was a bit too salty. I’m going to try it again and follow more carefully.
All the recipes should have the US Customary option button for non-metric measurements. Hope that helps with your measurements!