Monday, November 16, 2015

Chicken Chow Mein


My husband LOVES Chinese food. He craves it like I craved beef and spicy food when I was pregnant with my girls. It's actually pretty funny, since all I have to do is say broccoli beef or fried rice or sweet and sour chicken or chow mein and he starts drooling, Pavlov's dogs style. When we stumbled across this recipe, I decided to add some shredded rotisserie chicken to it to make it a meal and we were all obsessed: me, Hubby, the 4-year-old, and the toddler. We now make this once every other week without fail. It is fast, easy, and completely delicious. I love having this chicken chow mein in my recipe arsenal, since it is always a hit!

There are a couple of important things to note in this recipe. The first is the yakisoba noodles. You can find those in the refrigerated section in your grocery store's produce section. The other is the ginger. The original recipe calls for grated fresh ginger. We tried it that way and thought that it made the recipe taste a little sweet, which we didn't like, so we use ground ginger. It has a spicier flavor that we love. These are just our preferences, so use what you like! 

Chicken Chow Mein
*Adapted from Damn Delicious

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded 
4 stalks celery, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2-3 cups cabbage, chopped
2 packages yakisoba noodles, sauce packets discarded 
2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
Crispy chow mein noodles, optional

For the sauce:
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 heaping teaspoon white pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside. Cook yakisoba noodles according to the package directions. We do ours in the microwave. You just poke a couple of holes in the packages and microwave them separately for a minute and 20 seconds, give or take (again, we've made this so many times that we have it down to a science). Once done, break up the noodles and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat canola oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add onions and celery and sauté for 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Add cabbage and sauté for 2 minutes. Add chicken and noodles and stir to heat through. Make a hole in the ingredients and pour in the sauce mixture. Remove from heat and gently toss the chow mein to get it all coated in the sauce. Serve immediately topped with crispy chow mein noodles (the ones in the blue can), if desired. Enjoy!