Chow Mein

Chow Mein is one of those pseudo Asian stir-fried dishes that is hearty, comforting and relatively easy to make with whatever is on hand. I usually make Chicken Chow Mein the night after a roasted chicken dinner, because it is one of our favorite ways to use leftover chicken.

Chicken Chow Mein

The veg

• Onion, about 1/2 of a large onion, sliced thin 
• Celery, 3 ribs sliced diagonally
• Carrots, sliced diagonally, 2-3 large ones because everyone likes carrots, don't they?
• 5-6 large mushrooms, sliced  
• one clove of garlic, minced  
• 1-2 T of oil, you can use safflower oil, canola or even olive oil. 

The meat
1 to 1-1/2 cups of diced cooked chicken
You can substitute tempeh or tofu instead of chicken for a vegetarian version, or you can just go with vegetable show mein, no "meat" or soy. Throw in some extra mushrooms instead.

The sauce

• 1-1/4 cup of chicken or vegetable broth---if you are working with a leftover cooked chicken, do include some of the gelled broth in the bottom of the pan. Place this in your measuring cup then fill  will broth until you hit the 1-1/4 mark
• 2 T.  reduced sodium soy sauce
  1 T. sherry
• 1 T. of cornstarch dissolved in 2 T. water
• A good grinding of black pepper
• Salt or more soy sauce to taste

The extras

• Cooked brown rice
• Crispy Chow Mein Noodles

The options

• A tiny splash of Sesame oil, because I like it
• A tiny sprinkle of Szechuan pepper, also because I like it

In a very large saute pan or wok sautee/stir-fry the onions and mushrooms over medium heat until they begin to color. Add the celery and carrots and continue to stir fry. Add the garlic and black pepper. Be careful not to burn the garlic. When the celery and carrots just begin to soften, pour in the broth, soy sauce and sherry. If you want the carrots and celery just a bit tenderer, put a top on the pan and simmer over low heat for about 3 minutes. Be careful not to let them get too soft. You want them to be a little al dente.

Take the top off the pan and stir in the cornstarch mixture and the chicken. Turn up the heat to medium  and stir well to mix in the cornstarch and let the sauce thicken. Right before serving you can swirl in s teaspoon of sesame oil if you like.

Serve over brown rice and top with crispy Chinese noodles and a sprinkling of Szechuan pepper if you roll that way. It is also fine to leave off the crispy noodles, because really, they aren't all that healthy are they? But the crunch is nice.