Chicken Chow Mein

Whenever my mom had the chance, she would order Chow Mein or Chop Suey at Chinese restaurants and with good reason-old school Chow Mein is just wonderful. I love all the flavors and it’s just so warm and comforting. Even better, you can work with whatever veggies you have in your house instead of the ones listed (although I recommend keeping in the celery, green onions, bean sprouts and water chestnuts). Don’t have fresh chicken, but you have leftover? Use that. Don’t want any meat or poultry? Fine and dandy, just use veggie broth in place of the chicken broth (and omit the oyster sauce if you don’t do fish/shellfish).

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

Chicken:

1 Tablespoon corn starch

1 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon good sherry (not the ‘cooking’ variety)

2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into 2 inch pieces

Sauce:

2 Tablespoons corn starch

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon sherry

½ cup chicken broth (cold)

Optional-2 teaspoons of oyster sauce

A few drops of sesame oil

2 Tablespoons canola oil

Vegetables:

2 stalks celery, green part only, sliced thin on the diagonal

¼ of a white or yellow onion, sliced into thin half moons

¼ cup red bell pepper, sliced

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms-any kind (I’m using fresh shitake, so I’m taking off the tough stem and saving it for      broth)

1 (14 ounce) can bean sprouts, drained (or use fresh-they are even better)

1 (5 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

2-3 green onions, sliced thinly on the diagonal

Optional: a handful of baby spinach leaves—I just love the dark green in there.

Noodles:

1 (16 ounce) package chow mein noodles (or you can stir fry some cooked and cooled noodles, but gosh I love those crispy ones!)

Directions:

Stir together the corn starch, soy and sherry for the chicken and then toss in the chicken pieces. Let stand for 15 minutes. Then, drain off the marinade and discard it.

Stir together the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Heat the oil in a very large skillet or wok on medium high until shimmering but not smoking (just about 3 minutes). Toss in the chicken and cook until no longer pink, stirring often. Add in the celery, onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add in the mushrooms, bean sprouts and water chestnuts and cook, stirring constantly for another 2 minutes. Add in the green onions (and spinach, if using) and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir the sauce together again and then slowly add into the pan and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the sauce thickens. Serve over noodles.