Chinese, Moo goo gai pan

[jeff]

This dish has a nice light sauce

This is for 2 servings

12 oz chicken breast/s (about one large breast)
1/2 cup dried black mushroomsHydrate them in water for 30 mins before using them. they can be found at your local asian market.
1/2 cup canned sliced bamboo shoots, rinsed
1/2 cup canned sliced water chestnuts, rinsed
Small piece of ginger minced
1 garlic clove, minced
Oil for cooking

For the marinade.

2 TBS soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine
drop or two of sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the sauce.

1 cup chicken stock/broth
1 TBS oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 TBS cornstarch

Start out by placing your chicken in the freezer for 30+ minutes to firm it up. Slice the chicken very thinly. If any pieces are thick you can use the side of your knife to push down on the chicken pieces and slide it across them, this will flatten them out.
Once your chicken cut, before adding it to your marinade, mix it up so the corn starch wont chunk up on you. After making sure the corn starch is nicely mixed, add your chicken. Let the chicken stay in the marinade for 10-15 minutes.

While you're waiting for that.

Take a bowl and add your sauce ingredients, place in a microwave set it for 1 minute and leave it there (do not turn it on yet).

take your pan/wok and heat some oil in it. add your chicken and cook till it's fully cooked, the chicken is thin so it wont take long at all. DO NOT over cook it, I HATE tough chicken.... once the chicken is cooked, remove from heat and set aside on a plate.

In the same pan/wok you just used, add some more oil, this time add your garlic and ginger, once it smells nice, add your bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, at this point turn your microwave on. when your minute is up remove the sauce from the microwave and stir it once again to let the cornstarch mix so it wont be chunky. Go ahead and pour your sauce mix in your pan/wok then add your cooked chicken. Leave everything over the heat for about 1 minute, the cornstarch will thicken the sauce up at this point remove from the heat and plate.

do make note, the sauce may seem slightly runny, as soon as it starts to cool down a bit it will thicken up even more.

If you feel the sauce is not thick enough DO NOT add cornstarch straight into your pan/wok. take about 1 part cornstarch and 1 part water. mix them together to make a paste then add it to your pan, once again heat the pan/wok so the starch will do its thing and thicken up.

[jeff]

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[nperkins]

Looks good... Thats one thing i need... a wok... But I want to buy a wok w/ a cooking base.

[phyregod]

Looks awesome.. I'm going to have to try that.. probably tonight.

On another note.. You cook on electric Blasphemy!

[jeff]

Originally Posted by phyregod

Looks awesome.. I'm going to have to try that.. probably tonight.

On another note.. You cook on electric Blasphemy!

I've cooked both electric and gas. In fact I use gas at work.

Gas IMO is better because you can change the heat on the fly.
however if you're cooking with a cast iron pot, it wont make a difference one bit! so WAH! =)

I have zero issues using electric.

Looks good... Thats one thing i need... a wok... But I want to buy a wok w/ a cooking base.

I've never heard anything good about woks with their own basses, in fact any good size wok will never get hot enough inside your house. You really need to use an outdoor propane burner.

[nperkins]

Yeah, never thought about that. Most Woks are over a large flame, not a stove top flame, even though mine is propane fed. damn... I was even looking at woks at the kitchen store today. Bought a cutting mat instead.

[510dat]

how in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster did you manage to cut the chicken breasts in that direction?

[jeff]

Originally Posted by 510dat

how in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster did you manage to cut the chicken breasts in that direction?

I'm a master in the art of knives....... ok well maybe not....

or it just looks like I cut it "that" way. It's really cut really thin, if its too thick just use your 100 in 1 tool (chef knife) to smush the meat flat.

=)