Amelia’s favorite stir-fry.

April 2, 2020

This used to be Amelia’s favorite dinner, or at least her favorite from my repertoire. I guess it’s a fairly generic take on a Chinese stir-fry.   I adapted it from a book I used to own, the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook.  (A quick check shows it’s still in print, and even has the same cover art.)

As I used to cook it, the dish is a stir-fry of boneless chicken breast with red pepper and mushrooms.  I would separately steam broccoli, and cook spaghetti, using the stir-fry as a sauce for everything.  You could add some green vegetables to the stir fry instead, and skip the separate broccoli.  I would typically use some mixture of cabbage, snow peas, and asparagus.  You could also serve it over rice or lo mein noodles.

As far as quantities go, I would usually use one whole chicken breast weighing about 1 1/2 lb, which made plenty for 2 with leftovers.

The ingredient list is long, but admits to substitutions as noted. Quantities are very rough & subject to your interpretation & whims.

  • 1 to 2 lb boneless breast of chicken, cut into slices.  I used to use whole boneless breasts & cut them up myself, but you could use chicken tenders or even pre-sliced breasts to reduce the knife-work.  You should aim for bite-size pieces, about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick and about 1″ to 2″ across.
  • 1 sweet red (bell) pepper, cut into strips about 1/4″ wide
  • 1/2 lb fresh shiitake mushrooms, or half a dozen dried shiitakes.  If using dry, pour a cup of boiling water over then & let sit for at least 1/2 hour, and save the water to use in the sauce. In either case, slice each mushroom cap into about 1/2 a dozen pieces, removing & discarding stems.
  • (optional) 1 cup snow peas, ends trimmed and strings removed if necessary
  • (optional) 1 cup Chinese cabbage (bok choi or napa), stalks sliced about 1/4″ thick, leaves roughly chopped
  • (optional) 1 cup asparagus, woody ends trimmed off, cut into 2″ lengths.
  • 5 or 6 scallions, whites & tender greens, chopped.  If I forgot to buy scallions I’d just leave them out, but you could probably substitute a couple tbsp. of shallots or sweet onion.  The “proper” way to cut the scallions is into “fans”: make cuts about 1/4″ apart, not quite all the way through the scallion.  Every 4th or 5th cut, go all the way through.  You’ll end up with pieces about 1″ long.
  • garlic black bean paste to taste, somewhere between 1 tsp and 1 tbsp.  I’m not sure the brand I used to buy, but it was mostly fermented black beans with garlic, chili, and oil.  The one I have now has chili but no garlic. Adjust your other seasonings if necessary.
  • hoisin sauce to taste, around 1 tbsp.  less if you use particularly sweet wine.
  • hot pepper to taste.  I use chili oil, which comes in a small bottle & is bright red.  You could substitute fresh or dried chilis, or cayenne.  Or chili paste with garlic, even sriracha.  The nice thing about the chili oil, if you have it, is that it makes it easy to adjust the heat at the end.
  • several cloves of garlic, sliced.  More if you like garlic or your black beans and/or chili pastes don’t have garlic in them.
  • a piece of fresh ginger about 1″ long, sliced thin against the grain.
  • cornstarch for chicken
  • cornstarch paste for sauce, 1 to 2 tbsp cornstarch with cold water to form a paste
  • 1/2 cup sherry, marsala, or similar fortified wine.  I used to use Alvear Amontillado, which was readily available, medium sweet, good quality, not too expensive.  It’s gotten harder to find and I think more expensive, so you could safely substitute any medium or dry sherry from Spain, or dry or sweet Marsala.  Avoid anything sold as “cooking wine”, anything from the US labeled “Sherry”, and anything that is very sweet (usually labeled “Cream sherry” or “Pedro Ximinez” or “PX”)
  • 1 cup mushroom soaking liquid and/or chicken broth, or water if you don’t have either
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • canola or similar cooking oil

Step 1: cook the chicken

  • toss chopped chicken with 1 tsp cornstarch, a little hot oil, and a sprinkle of soy sauce
  • heat a couple tbsp canola oil in wok
  • add 1/2 the hot oil, 1/2 the garlic, 1/2 the ginger, saute until it begins to brown
  • add chicken & stir fry for a few minutes until it’s just about cooked through.  None of the pieces should look raw, but the center should be just a little pink.  It will finish cooking later.
  • remove chicken from wok to a bowl, set aside for a moment

Step 2: stir fry vegetables

  • add a couple more tbsp canola oil
  • add remainder of hot oil, garlic, ginger
  • add black bean paste
  • add scallions
  • if you’re using hot peppers, add them now
  • saute all until garlic begins to brown
  • if using snow peas, add them first & cook alone for a couple minutes
  • if using asparagus and/or cabbage, add them next
  • add mushrooms
  • add red pepper
  • saute all for a minute or two

Step 3: make sauce and simmer

  • add sherry and allow to boil off for a few seconds
  • add mushroom liquid, soy sauce, and chicken broth or water
  • cover and allow to steam for a couple minutes
  • uncover
  • return chicken to wok & mix
  • add hoisin sauce
  • add cornstarch paste a little at a time until desired consistency is reached
  • taste and add soy sauce and hot pepper oil to taste
0

Filed under:
Uncategorized by pmasters