Chicken Chow Mein

With the economy being what it is, prices being so high on everything and only having one income due to a crummy job market, I've been trying to stretch our food budget a little more than usual. Part of that has been going back to old standby recipes, and part of it has been finding recipes that use items I always have on hand. If the recipe makes enough for 6 people to eat for 2 meals... even better!

This one came about while I was browsing for chicken recipes. I knew I had only 4 breast halves in the freezer, meaning that in order to stretch that for 6 people, it would have to be a casserole or stir fry. I came across a recipe for Chicken Chow Mein. Now, I don't know about you, but this was a dish my mother made in the 70's... and granted, as a kid I liked it, but the majority of it came from a can. The last time I had tried the version from a can, it wasn't quite what I remembered. But I was willing to give it another shot... on my terms. This began my search for a REAL recipe for Chow Mein. I found quite a few, took my favorite parts of each one and came up with this. Not only did it stretch those 4 chicken breast halves to feed all 6 of us, it also made enough for leftovers for Monday... BONUS! I also had most of the ingredients on hand already, the only purchase I made for this was the bamboo shoots, beans sprouts and cabbage... which cost all of $2.40.

4 large chicken breast halves (about 2 lbs), cut in bite size pieces
3 Tbs canola or vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1 med onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
12 oz package sliced mushrooms
2 handfuls fresh bean sprouts
1/2 small head of cabbage, sliced
1 cup chicken stock or broth
7 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs oyster sauce
1/2 cup rice wine
3 Tbs honey (I prefer honey, but you can use sugar)
1/4 cup water
3 Tbs cornstarch
6 green onions, white and green parts chopped
cooked rice
crispy chow mein noodles


Heat oil in large frying pan over med-high heat. Season chicken to taste with salt and pepper, then brown in hot oil. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and set aside.

Add celery and onions to the pan, and saute 2 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic, ginger, mushrooms, bean sprouts and cabbage. Continue cooking 2 more minutes or until vegetables just start to cook down.

Mix together chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine and honey in a medium mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch until smooth, then add to the broth mixture, mixing well. Add sauce mixture to the pan, stirring almost constantly until sauce begins to thicken.

Return chicken to the pan, add green onions and heat through. Serve over rice and top with chow mein noodles.

General Tso's Chicken

This is one of those dishes that I make when I want to impress company, or when I want a favor from someone I know :) It's also the one meal my husband and kids ask me to make most often. Sure, it's a bit time consuming, but once you get the process down you can really get it done in under an hour. On days when I'm really in the mood to spend the day in kitchen (honest, I have lots of days like that!), I serve this with homemade egg rolls and fried rice. Other days I send hubby over to the take-out place down the street for those sides (hey, as Pioneer Woman would say, I'm just keeping it real here). Fresh steamed broccoli also goes well with this, but in all honesty, you don't have to stick to traditional sides... serve it with some rice-a-roni if you like.

Here's the recipe to serve 6:

3 Tbs cornstarch
3 large eggs
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
oil or shortening for deep frying

Heat oil in deep fryer (I use a deep electric skillet with enough oil to cover the chicken pieces) to 275ºF. If you're using boneless breasts, cut each breast half into 2 or 3 large pieces, pounding the thicker pieces out a bit so all the pieces will cook evenly. You can leave boneless thighs whole.

Whisk the cornstarch and eggs together to make batter. The batter will be very thin, only slightly thicker than the beaten eggs alone. Dip each chicken piece in the batter and place 3 or 4 at a time in oil. I know you may be thinking that I still haven't caught my mistake on the oil temperature, but it wasn't a mistake (come on now, my typing isn't THAT bad!). Let the chicken cook until the coating just turns white and sets slightly, about 1 minute. Remove the chicken pieces to a paper towel lined plate. They should look like this:



This is called velveting the chicken. You can skip this step if you're pressed for time or if you're just feeling lazy that day, but it really does help keep the chicken (especially the breast meat) from getting tough.

Once all the chicken pieces are done, increase the heat to 375ºF (ahh THERE'S the temp you were looking for earlier!). It's going to take that oil a bit to come up to temperature, so while we're waiting let's make the sauce.

3 Tbs cornstarch
3 Tbs sugar
2 1/2 Tbs rice vinegar
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 Tbs chile garlic sauce (or to taste)
1 bunch green onions (white and green parts) chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
4-16 small dried red chile peppers(keep whole)
2-3 Tbs honey
2-3 Tbs sweet and sour sauce

In a medium mixing bowl, combine cornstarch through chili garlic sauce, mixing well. The sauce will be cloudy.

In a large frying pan or wok, heat about 1 Tbs of oil over medium heat. Saute the dried chiles until the start to blacken. Add the chopped ginger, garlic and green onions and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir the sauce mixture again, and then add to the pan, stirring constantly. The sauce will start out cloudy:



But as it cooks, it will thicken and become a bit translucent, looking more like the General Tso's sauce you're familiar with:



Once this happens, add the honey and sweet and sour sauce to taste (you can also adjust the heat at this point by adding more chili garlic sauce), turn the heat off and go back to the chicken. Fry the chicken pieces in hot oil until golden brown, about 2 or 3 minutes more.



Once all of the chicken is browned, add it to the sauce. Return the pan to medium low heat and simmer the chicken in the sauce about 5 minutes.

Serve each chicken piece with a spoonful of sauce... and if you really want to mess with your kids... some chopsticks :)