This chicken chop suey took less than 15 minutes to cook and that includes the time I spent cutting the vegetables.
But the preparation started a hour earlier when I sliced the chicken thigh fillets into thin strips and marinated them in a mixture of light sweet soy sauce, salt, pepper, Chinese rice wine, oyster sauce and a bit of sesame seed oil. It’s amazing how much tastier the chicken turned out.
Because chicken chop suey is a stir fried dish, it is meant to cook in a very short time. That’s why extremely high heat is essential. So is a wok large enough to keep all the ingredients moving as they cook.
Chicken Chop Suey
Ingredients
- 8 to 9 chicken thigh fillets
- 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- sprinkle salt
- freshly ground pepper
- genrous splash Chinese rice wine
- drizzle sesame seed oil
- bunch baby asparagus about 150 g., cut into two-inch lengths
- 1 medium carrot peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 to 6 mushrooms (I used Swiss brown mushrooms but feel free to substitute other varieties), sliced
- 1 onion onion or 2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1/4 cup chicken broth or plain water
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 heaping tablespoon tapioca starch or corn or potato starch
Instructions
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Slice the chicken thigh fillets into strips about half an inch wide and two inches long. Place in a bowl. Add all the ingredients for the marinade. Mix. Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge for about an hour.
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About 15 minutes before meal time, cut all the vegetables.
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Heat the cooking oil in a wok. When smoking, add the chicken and garlic with the marinade and cook until no longer pink. Remember to keep the chicken strips moving by alternately tossing, swirling and stirring to ensure even cooking and to prevent scorching.
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Add the carrot slices and mushrooms next. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the asparagus and sliced onion (adding the sliced onion toward the end of cooking time prevents them from turning soggy — remember that this is a stir fry and not a sauteed dish). Stir fry for another 30 seconds.
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Make the sauce by stirring together the broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and starch. Pour into the wok. Stir until the sauce is thick and clear. Turn off the heat. Transfer the chicken chop suey in a platter and serve at once.
