Chicken and Mango Stir – fry

This dish is a modified version (I added button mushrooms) of a recipe from Practical Chicken (Parragon, 2002), one of the four cookbooks that my mom-in-law gave me for my birthday. The reason I chose this chicken and mango stir-fry to be the first recipe from the cookbooks that I should try is simple. I have always associated stir-fried dishes with Chinese cuisine. But having mango as one of the important ingredients in a stir-fried dish gives it a very Filipino flavor. I have a friend whose work takes her from one country to another. And she always says that when returning to the Philippines, the first thing she looks for are Philippine mangoes. She swears there’s nothing like Philippine mangoes. While mangoes grow in other countries, they are never as sweet.

Years ago, a ripe sweet yellow mango was a summer treat. It is only during the summer months when they were abundant. They used to be a seasonal fruit. Today, they are grown all year round. More expensive during non-summer months though–the price doubles. And they are still sweetest during the summer. Luckily, the mango that went into my stir-fried dish was sweet.

Ingredients :

breast of one chicken
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
2 white onions
2 small carrots
1 red bell pepper
12 baby corn
100 g. of chicharo (snow peas)
250 g. of fresh button mushrooms
1 ripe mango
1/4 c. of light soy sauce
2 tbsps. of cooking oil

Cooking procedure :

Debone the chicken breast (or use breast fillets). Cut into strips about 1/2 inch wide and 2 inches long. Place in a bowl. Pour in the soy sauce and mix well. Set aside.

Peel the ginger and slice thinly.

Peel and chop the onions coarsely.

Peel the carrots, cut in half vertically then slice thinly.

Trim the ends and sides of the chicharo.

Core, seed and cut the bell pepper into 1/4-inch wide strips.

Cut the mushrooms in half, if small; slice if they are big.

If they are big, cut the baby corn in halves.

Cut the mangoes down the middle, avoiding the seed. Do the same with the other side. With a spoon, scoop out the meat of the mango in one piece. Do the same with the other half. Cut the meat into strips.

Heat a wok or skillet. When hot, pour in the cooking oil. Heat to smoking point. Drain the chicken and add to the hot oil. Stir-fry over high heat for about 30 seconds. Pour in the marinade. Add the garlic, ginger and onions. Cook, stirring for about two minutes. Add the carrots, bell pepper, chicharo and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the mango strips and toss a few times. Cook just until the mango strips are heated through.

Serve at once.