My Version Of Cantonese Chicken Chow Mein

We are having a family birthday supper tomorrow and that will be a roast pork supper. So tonight we wanted something different, my wife wanted a stir fry and this fits. Cantonese chicken chow mien is a favourite for her, and I actually like it also. I think I have made it about a hundred times over the years and it never gets boring. Some meals are just great every time you make them. If my memory isn’t failing me the first time I made it was a recipe from a cookbook Wok With Yan. I went to the store and purchased everything in the recipe. It was a great recipe and I enjoyed it, but it was also a learning experience for me. The picking of things out of it by my wife and kids taught me that little kids are very picky. So the next time I made it I only used things I knew they would eat. It isn’t worth buying things to make a recipe when they are going to be pushed aside and left on the plate. So this has the taste of cantonese chicken chow mien but it doesn’t have all the things you normally find in recipes for it. This is a fun meal to make and you don’t have to get as goofy with cutting the vegetables as I did. Just cut everything up in away that is comfortable for you. This is very simple and quick to make, cutting the chicken and vegetables took me 20 minutes. Most asian recipes look like they might be difficult to make but they are actually really simple.

1/2 a bag of fresh thin chow mien noodles

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon canola oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Run the noodles under hot water for about 1 minute and squeeze the water out. The reason you rinse them is because they are dusted with corn starch so that they don’t stick together. Preheat a frying pan on medium heat with canola oil. Add the noodles and salt and pepper them, press them down. Cook for about 2 and 1/2 minutes, turn them over in the pan and press them down. Sprinkle with soy sauce and toss. Remove to casserole dish and break apart. Retain in a preheated 200 oven.

1 chicken breast cut in thin strips

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 teaspoon grated ginger

1/2 teaspoon dry sherry

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon corn starch

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together in a bowl and add the chicken. Mix well and refrigerate for at least one hour.

1 carrot sliced

1 rib celery sliced

1 onion cut in half and sliced

1/2 red pepper sliced

1 green onion chopped

5 mushrooms sliced

About 2 cups of broccoli florets

2 cloves garlic minced

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons canola oil

About 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup cold water

1 teaspoon corn starch

Mix soy sauce, water, corn starch together in a glass and set aside. Preheat a frying pan on medium high heat with the canola oil. Start with the mushrooms, then carrots, celery, onions, red pepper and garlic, broccoli cooking for about 1 minute between each. Salt and pepper and mix , remove and  retain. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes then return the vegetables to the pan. Mix and then add the sauce mixture and green onions, sprinkle with sesame oil and mix until thickened. Spoon over the chow mien noodles and serve.