Chicken Chow Mein

We have soooo many Chinese noodles in our house right now! I have been looking for recipes to start to use them up. This one jumped out at me because we had a lot of the ingredients already in the house. I only needed to get cabbage and bean sprouts!

Don't be overwhelmed by the steps, just prep all your ingredients before starting to cook. Things move quick when you stir fry!

I used my large dutch oven pot because when you add the cabbage it gets quite tall and it is easier to mix everything with the higher sides. Often I crowd my pan because I'm making a lot... someday I'll do it correctly. When the pan gets crowded things steam more and won't get as crispy/browned. Things will still cook but it changes the texture a little bit. The recipe below is updated to what I used to feed 2 adults and 2 big kids (pre-teen age kids).

There are a lot of different types of Chinese noodles that you can use. I used regular thin wheat noodles that are similar to a linguine. Dried rice noodles and fresh noodles can also be used too.

I was intrigued by coating the chicken in the baking soda. Cooks Illustrated validated this technique so I continued to follow the directions. It really made a big difference in the chicken breast!! According to other websites make sure you rinse it off and don't let it sit for longer then 15 minutes. 

The cabbage seemed like a lot but wilted down to next to nothing!

Recipe Tin Eats: Charlie Sauce - This is the link to make the larger quantity of sauce to keep in your fridge. This has quite a bit of kick to it. I followed the recipe and only used 1 tsp of the white pepper. I would use 1/2 - 3/4 of a tsp next time. It did seem very salty but I used all low-sodium soy sauce. I am going to investigate the all purpose soy sauce for next time. 

Chicken Chow Mein

adapted from Recipe Tin Eats

Serves: 4-5 adult size portions

4 cups chicken thigh breast, cut into bite size pieces
½ tsp baking soda
1½ tbsp olive oil
16 oz noodles
6-8 cups green cabbage (savoy/green/napa), finely shredded

2 carrot, matchsticks
2 cup bean sprouts
6 scallions, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp Chow Mein Sauce

Chow Mein Sauce: mix all ingredients
4 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 White pepper

• Combine chicken and baking soda in a small bowl and toss to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes to marinate, then rinse chicken well and pat dry.
• Pour 2 tbsp of Chow Mein Sauce over the chicken and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
• Prepare the noodles according to the package instructions.
• Heat oil in wok or large fry pan over high heat.
• Add garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds until the garlic is golden brown and you can smell the garlic in the oil. 
• Add chicken and stir fry until the skin is white but the inside is still raw - about 45 seconds to 1 minute.
• Add the cabbage, carrot, and the white pieces of scallions. Stir fry for 1 - 1½ minutes until the cabbage is just starting to wilt and the chicken is cooked through.
• Add the cooked & drained noodles, Chow Mein sauce and water. Toss to coat everything in the sauce.
• Add bean sprouts and remaining shallots/scallions. Stir and remove from heat. Serve immediately

Slow Cooked Asian Chuck Roast

It is a new year and I am going to again say that I'm going to post once a week! I'd like to try one new recipe each week. I have a few recipes tagged and I'm really looking forward to what comes next!

This week I made a Slow Cooked Asian Chuck Roast which is a Wegmans recipe. 

A few changes:

- Used a dutch oven instead of crock pot

- Used prepared dried noodles instead of the frozen Udon noodles

- Instead of pan searing flour I used flour with a pinch of salt and white pepper

- Canned baby corn instead of frozen since it wasn't at the grocery store

- Fresh broccoli instead of frozen since that is what I had at home

The Thai stock smells amazing! It is a great way to add flavor without needing a purchase lot of ingredients. I have 2 cups left so I need to figure out how to use the rest of it! I'm thinking noodle soup!

The BBQ sauce had a bit of kick too it but it actually was sweet when it had all cooked out.

Slow Cooked Asian Chuck Roast

Adapted from Wegmans

serves 4

Ingredients
2 1/2 - 3 lbs Boneless Beef Chuck Roast
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 bottle (20 oz) Asian-Style BBQ Sauce
2 cups Thai Culinary Stock
1 can Baby Corn, sliced in 1/2-inch rounds
16 oz (1 package) Broccoli
Chinese Noodles, prepared per pkg directions

Directions
Dust meat with flour; pat off excess. Heat oil in large braising pan on med-high, until oil faintly smokes. Add meat. Brown, turning to brown all sides, 3-4 min per side. (move to slow cooker if using). Stir in BBQ sauce and stock.

Cook meat in slow-cooker 4-5 hours on high or 7-9 hours on low or in dutch oven for 2-3 hours. Remove just the meat and transfer to clean platter.

Add corn and broccoli to slow-cooker on high; stir to combine. Cover; cook 5-15 min, or until vegetables are thoroughly heated. Stir in noodles; transfer to serving platter and top with meat.

Chicken Rice Soup

While it is almost 90F… fall is coming! I swear it! So here is a quick and easy chicken soup recipe that you can quickly assemble for those cool evenings. The roux will create a creamer thicker broth for the soup.

If you are cooking for picky kids puree the onion, garlic, and celery in the food processor. You’ll get the flavor but none of the texture. Rice can be substituted for pasta. Left over chicken would work too. And any veggies that may be having a slow death in your crisper drawer could be included in this as well! Flavors that would be tasty would include a few slices of ginger in the broth while cooking (remove before serving) or lemon juice in the broth.

This soup freezes well, just omit the rice/pasta. When you are ready to eat make the pasta/rice when the soup is heating up and then combine. This prevents the rice/pasta from being gummy and mushy.

Chicken Rice Soup
Makes 4-6 servings

2 tbsp oil
Small Onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 carrots, sliced
3 stalks of celery, sliced
4 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp seasoning (oregano, Italian seasoning, or parsley)
1 can of corn (optional)
4-5 cans of chicken broth (it seems like a lot of broth but it will absorb and thicken as then soup sits in the fridge)
3 chicken breasts (cooked)
1 cup brown rice (uncooked)
Salt and pepper

To Cook Chicken:
Preheat oven to 350F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook for about 30 minutes. When it is done take it out and let it cool. Shred and put aside.

To Cook Rice:
1 cup rice in 1 ½ cups of liquid (I do a split between water and chicken both). Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. When liquid is mostly absorbed (after approx. 25 minutes) turn off the heat and put aside.

To Make Soup:
While the chicken and rice are cooking, start making the soup! Heat large pot. Add a little oil and add in the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Let it sauté 5 minutes. Add butter and stir into the veggies. When melted add in the flour. Stir to coat the veggies. Add in seasoning of your choice. Season with salt and pepper. Add ½ can of broth and stir so the broth doesn’t become lumpy. When broth is smooth add in rest of the broth. Add chicken and rice when they are done cooking.