Chinese Chicken Stir fry, a quick easy recipe with tender chicken pieces, vegetables and cashew nuts cooked in a delicious Cantonese sauce. Serve with fragrant steamed rice!

Chinese Chicken Stir fry, a quick easy recipe with tender chicken pieces, vegetables and cashew nuts cooked in a delicious Cantonese sauce. Serve with fragrant steamed rice!

The trick with making any Chinese food and it's guaranteed success is to prepare everything before hand. You need to get all your ingredients together, chopped, diced, toasted, sauces prepared in little bowls, absolutely everything that belongs in a recipe must be at hand when you fire your wok up to inferno temperatures!


The idea is to cook everything very quickly, on high heat, so that all the juices, natural vitamins and minerals are sealed for maximum flavour and goodness. Not only are flavours and nutrients important in Chinese cooking, but texture also carries high importance.


In this easy chicken stir fry recipe, you have the soft tender texture (yes, tender, not dry and stringy) of the thin slices of chicken breast, against the slightly crunchy zucchini, with a gentle sweetness from the red onion, all married together with that distinctive light Chinese flavour oyster sauce that comes with a stir fry.

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What vegetables and meat can I use in a stir fry?

You can swap any of the meat and vegetables to suit what you have available, the main thing to remember is to make sure all the ingredients are bite-sized and will cook quickly. So you don't want to use a tough cut of meat, such as stewing beef, but a quick-cooking cut, like sirloin or rib eye. For the vegetables, any green beans, Chinese cabbage, broccoli which has been blanched, bean sprouts, thinly cut carrots. the list is endless!

TOP TIPS!

1. You need a wok!
2. Get all your ingredients prepared and ready for the wok before you start cooking anything.
3. Serve with a bowl of Thai fragrant rice...mmmmm delicious!
4. When you are ready for serving, don't hang around! the food must be served as soon as it comes out of the wok, for maximum taste and texture.
5. Quantities for vegetables can be as much or little as you wish. You can also change the vegetables to suit you.

Ingredients

8 oz or 200 g (per person) thinly sliced chicken breast or thigh meat. I usually allow 1 medium breast or 2 thighs per person.
1 zucchini/courgette
A handful of mushrooms cleaned and cut to bite-size pieces
1 Red onion
1-inch piece of ginger
2 cloves garlic
A handful of cashew nuts (optional)
1 spring onions/scallions
a handful of fresh coriander/cilantro

The sauce

3 teaspoons cornflour/cornstarch
1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon chili seeds (optional)

Instructions

1. Wash and prepare the mushrooms, they should all be cut to bite-sized even pieces.
2. Chop the ginger & garlic, set aside.
3. Put all your prepared vegetables on a separate plate, cut them into bite-sized pieces.

Chinese Chicken Stir fry, showing vegetables prepared


4. Slice the chicken into bite-sized strips (not cubes) and place in the bowl . Add the chopped ginger & garlic to the meat.

5. Make the sauce. Add all the sauce ingredients into a bowl, and stir so that the cornflour has dissolved and add to the meat and combine well.

Chinese Chicken Stir fry, showing chicken prepared

6. Heat the wok until it is smoking. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the wok.
7. As soon as the wok is hot, add the mushrooms and stir until cooked. Add the zucchini & onions, stir until nearly cooked, then add the chicken including the sauce it was marinating in. Keep stirring to avoid burning.

Chicken and Oyster Sauce Stir Fry, showing chicken cooking in wok

8. If the sauce gets too thick, add some water to loosen it. Test a piece of chicken to see if it is cooked through. It should only take 4 -5 minutes to cook, so long as your wok is hot and you keep stirring the food in the wok.

When ready, turn off the heat and add the spring onions, scallions, and coriander/cilantro.
Serve with some delicious Fragrant Jasmine Rice

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

Chinese Chicken Stir fry, a quick easy recipe with tender chicken pieces, vegetables and cashew nuts cooked in a delicious Cantonese sauce. Serve with fragrant steamed rice!

Recipe Card

Chinese Chicken Stir fry, a quick easy recipe with tender chicken pieces, vegetables and cashew nuts cooked in a delicious Cantonese sauce. Serve with fragrant steamed rice!

Chinese Chicken Stir Fry

Yield: 2 - 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Chinese Chicken Stir fry, a quick easy recipe with tender chicken pieces, vegetables and cashew nuts cooked in a delicious Cantonese sauce. Serve with fragrant steamed rice!

Ingredients

  • 8 oz or 200 g thinly sliced chicken breast or thigh meat. I usually allow 1 medium breast or 2 thighs per person., per person
  • 1 zucchini / Courgette
  • pieces Handful of mushrooms cleaned and cut to bite size
  • 1 Red onion
  • 1 inch piece of ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Handful of cashew nuts, optional
  • 1 spring onions / scallions
  • handful of fresh coriander / cilantro

The sauce

  • 3 teaspoons cornflour
  • 1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
  • 4 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon chili seeds, optional

Instructions

  1. Wash and prepare the mushrooms, they should all be cut to bite sized even pieces.
  2. Chop the ginger & garlic, set aside.
  3. Put all your prepared vegetables on a separate plate , ***cut them into bite sized pieces.
  4. Slice the chicken into bite sized strips (not cubes) and place in the bowl . Add the chopped ginger & garlic to the meat.
  5. Make the sauce. - Add all the sauce ingredients into a bowl, and stir so that the cornflour has dissolved and add to the meat and combine well.
  6. Heat the wok until it is smoking. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the wok.
  7. As soon as the wok is hot, add the mushrooms and stir until cooked. Add the zucchini & onions, stir until nearly cooked, then add the chicken including the sauce it was marinating in. Keep stirring to avoid burning.
  8. If the sauce gets too thick, add some water to loosen. Test a piece of chicken to see if it is cooked through. It should only take 4 -5 minutes to cook, so long as your wok is hot and you keep stirring the food in the wok. When ready, turn off the heat and add the spring onions, scallions, and coriander , cilantro.
  9. Serve with some delicious Fragrant Jasmine Rice
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 434Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 160mgSodium: 966mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 43g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate

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