This is one of the staple dishes at Chinese restaurants that lean a little more on the authentic side — my dad’s restaurant included. Enjoy this Chinese comfort food that is near and dear to my heart!
Ingredients For Chicken & Marinade:
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs thinly sliced against the grain (you can use breast meat, but traditionally this is cooked with chicken thighs for its sweeter flavor)
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil (or you can use vegetable oil if preferred)
Ingredients For Sauce:
- 1/2 cup chicken stock, chicken bone broth, or water
- 1 teaspoon sugar (pure cane or coconut — either is good)
- 1 tablespoon ‘light’ soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 4 tablespoons avocado oil (vegetable oil is fine)
- about a 1/2 lb – 1 lb. string beans with the ends trimmed off
- 3 cloves garlic minced (you can also do 2 tablespoons garlic powder)
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger puree (1 slice of ginger thinly sliced into matchsticks also works)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/2 cup cornstarch slurry: 1 part cornstartch with 1 part soy sauce and 1 part chicken broth
Steps:
- Prep the chicken and marinade first. Add all the marinade ingredients and chicken in a large bowl. Mix and massage the marinade into the chicken with your hands so that everything absorbs well (I like to use non-powdered disposable gloves for this).
- Heat 2 tablespoons avocado oil to a wok or large and deep sautee pan over medium-high heat. When you see the oil ripple add the ginger and garlic and let it sit for 10 seconds or so for the aromatics to open up (I admit, sometimes I forget to do this and don’t add the garlic and ginger until step 3 but the difference in flavor is extremely subtle). Disperse the ginger and garlic around the pan as evenly as possible then add the chicken and distribute evenly in the pan with your spatula. Let chicken sit in pan to brown for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, move the chicken around the pan to facilitate even cooking. Do this for another couple of minutes then transfer to a dish and set aside.
- Return the pan to the burner and add 2 tablespoons avocado oil to the pan and then add the string beans. Let the string beans sit in the pan for about a minute to sear the string beans a bit. Stir fry the string beans for 30 seconds or so and add 1/4 cup of water. Cover with a lid to steam the string beans to steam for another minute or two or until a glaze starts to form on the string beans.
- Pour the Shaoxing wine around the pan then stir fry the string beans for 20 seconds then add the cornstarch slurry. Turn heat down to medium-low or simmer.
- Add chicken back to pan and stir fry everything together for no more than 30 seconds — just enough to thicken the sauce and incorporate everything in the sauce. When sauce is at your preferred consistency, immediately serve with rice. Enjoy!