Chicken with Broccoli

White County Girls Basketball WINS REGION! I was so excited for them (and so starving) that I stopped for Chinese take out in Smithville. CLOSED!

So in craving Chinese food all day, I went to a tried and true website for a take out recipe.

Even his Din Tai Fung recipes are spot on!

I did do several things differently, so I'm posting this recipe in tribute, but in making my own.

Chicken:

1 large chicken breast*

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 T mirin (or rice wine vinegar)

1 T neutral oil (I used grapeseed, but avocado, vegetable, or canola are all "neutral.")

1 tsp sesame oil

1 T cornstarch

1/2 cup of neutral oil for frying

Stir-Fry Sauce:

1 T low sodium soy sauce

1 T oyster sauce

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1 T sugar

1/2 cup chicken stock (I only had turkey stock.)

1 T cornstarch

Other Ingredients:

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

1 broccoli crown chopped into 2 inch pieces

*Chicken was frozen, and I left in a bowl at room temperature all day.

Partially frozen chicken is much easier to slice!

What I Did:

~ Slice partially frozen chicken breast into 1/4 inch slices.

~ Place chicken slices in 1 cup of warm water and 1 tsp. baking soda for 15 minutes. This step both thaws the chicken and tenderizes it.

~ Bring pot of water to boiling and chop the broccoli.

~ Blanch the broccoli by boiling the pieces for 1 minute then draining and covering in ice.

~ While chicken is in baking soda, mix the chicken marinade and the stir fry sauce.

~ Mix white pepper, salt, mirin, neutral oil, sesame oil, and cornstarch in one small bowl.

~ In another bowl, mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, sugar, chicken stock, and cornstarch.

~ Drain and rinse chicken pieces to remove all baking soda remnants.

~ Stir chicken marinade to make sure cornstarch has not settled.

~ Coat the chicken in the marinade and let sit for 15 minutes.

~ While chicken is marinating, grate ginger and chop garlic.

~ Heat 1/2 cup neutral oil in large saute pan or wok.

~ You now have the oil heating, the chicken marinating, the garlic and ginger prepped, the stir fry sauce, and the blanched broccoli. Having each of these components ready helps the process.

~ When the oil is smoking (or 450 degrees), add chicken and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

~ Remove chicken when cooked through and set aside in a different bowl than the marinating bowl.

~ Empty oil from pan leaving only 1 T.

~ Add garlic and ginger leaving heat on high for 15 seconds.

~ Stir the sauce to make sure cornstarch hasn't settled, then add to garlic and ginger.

~ Heat for a couple of minutes and watch it thicken! (See pic below.)

~ Once sauce begins to congeal, add broccoli and chicken.

~ Mix and turn off heat.

~ Serve over steamed white rice, rice noodles, fried rice . . . whatever you choose.

~ I also tossed green onions all over, but do you.