Chicken Chow Mein ©Diane Eblin
This is a dish I have loved to eat since I was a young teen. I was a kid who ate only a few foods and the thought of eating more than one food at a time was gross to me. Eating peanut butter and jelly together was a victory for my mom. I didn’t eat onions or bean sprouts or anything at the Chinese restaurant but the deep fried chicken. Well my mom took me out to lunch with her friend Sylvia. Sylvia was a very exotic woman and I thought she was very intriguing. After my mother announced I would never eat anything on the menu, Sylvia ordered Chicken Chow Mein for us. I of course had to prove my mom wrong, so I ate it. My mother was in shock and I found something new to eat.
For some reason that event in my life came to mind and I immediately wanted Chicken Chow Mein. Tonight was the night. This is a quick meal to cook and is very low cost. I served mine over red quinoa but you can also serve it over rice or a combo of rice and quinoa. I also put the organic wheat free soy sauce on the table so we can adjust the taste as you eat.
Ingredients:
2 boneless free range chicken breasts
1 large organic sweet onion sliced
6-8 stalks of organic celery sliced
1 handful organic button mushrooms sliced
2 handfuls bean sprouts
1 handful snow peas chopped
1 can diced water chestnuts, drained and rinsed
1-2 tsp ginger
2-3 cups chicken stock
arrowroot for slurry (1 tsp arrowroot to 1-2 tsp cold water mixed together)
soy sauce to taste
Virgin organic Coconut Oil
Directions:
Prep all your ingredients and heat your wok or pan with the oil. Start with the onions and cook until soft. Add in the celery and cook until soft. Mix the two ingredients together. Make an well in the middle and add in the mushrooms, snow peas and water chestnuts. After those cook up mix all together. Season with ginger. Again make an space in the middle and add in the chicken and season with a little more ginger, salt and pepper. Once it’s cooked mix all together. Now stir in the bean sprouts. Make that well again and add in the chicken stock. Bring it up to a boil and stir in the arrowroot slurry. It should thicken very quickly. Once the sauce is as thick as you want it, mix it into the chow mein.
That’s all there is to making my Chicken Chow Mein. I put the wheat free soy sauce on the table when I served this so we could adjust to our own taste.
Now I’ve not priced out each ingredient but I can say when I ran to the store for the bean sprouts, mushrooms and water chestnuts, that only cost me $4 and I have some mushrooms left over. This makes 6-8 servings so you have lots of leftovers or plenty for a crowd. You could save money if you don’t buy organic foods or free range chicken raised without antibiotics. The choice is one you have to make. I just ask that you know as much as you can about where your food comes from and what is in it. After all, you are relying on it to nourish your body and keep you healthy.
Great story, Diane!! It reminds me of when our son was maybe 5 and ordered a tuna salad sandwich in a local family restaurant. The owner (incidentally, also named Shirley) took our order herself and I said he'll never eat that and she laughed and said that he's be sure to eat it after I said that. I tried to convince him to change his order, but he didn't and he ate it all. Of course, in his case, he didn't eat a tuna sandwich again for many years … tuna steaks yes, but not tuna salad for a long time.
This dish looks terrific. I love all the ingredients. I've just found out about an Asian market in town that everyone says has the freshest bean sprouts so as soon as I go, I'll make it. They probably have awesome snow peas, too. 🙂
Shirley
Great story, Diane!! It reminds me of when our son was maybe 5 and ordered a tuna salad sandwich in a local family restaurant. The owner (incidentally, also named Shirley) took our order herself and I said he’ll never eat that and she laughed and said that he’s be sure to eat it after I said that. I tried to convince him to change his order, but he didn’t and he ate it all. Of course, in his case, he didn’t eat a tuna sandwich again for many years … tuna steaks yes, but not tuna salad for a long time.
This dish looks terrific. I love all the ingredients. I’ve just found out about an Asian market in town that everyone says has the freshest bean sprouts so as soon as I go, I’ll make it. They probably have awesome snow peas, too. 🙂
Shirley
Ahh. Memories of my first Chinese food! I can taste it now. Looks great!
Have you found good Chinese restaurants on the road? I miss fried won tons and fried rice.
Ahh. Memories of my first Chinese food! I can taste it now. Looks great!
Have you found good Chinese restaurants on the road? I miss fried won tons and fried rice.
Good points, Diane (along with a good looking recipe). I agree so much with needing to know where your food comes from and how it's been tampered with. More so now than ever!
I also like the idea that you cook with coconut oil. I love it — it's definitely my oil of choice for a variety of reasons.
Melissa
Melissa- Coconut oil has so many great nutritional benefits. Glad I found it too. I'm learning more and more ways to use it. So have you read Food Matters by Mark Bittman? Is Food Inc coming to a theater near you? I'll be sharing more info on those topics soon. Try not to get up on my soap box too often. Don't want to scare people off.
Good points, Diane (along with a good looking recipe). I agree so much with needing to know where your food comes from and how it’s been tampered with. More so now than ever!
I also like the idea that you cook with coconut oil. I love it — it’s definitely my oil of choice for a variety of reasons.
Melissa
Melissa- Coconut oil has so many great nutritional benefits. Glad I found it too. I’m learning more and more ways to use it. So have you read Food Matters by Mark Bittman? Is Food Inc coming to a theater near you? I’ll be sharing more info on those topics soon. Try not to get up on my soap box too often. Don’t want to scare people off.
Yum, I just finished a big plate of Chinese Chicken and Broccoli, so I am digging this recipe 🙂
Alisa- I love broccoli. Just bought a bunch at the farmers market. Hmm, maybe I'll add it in to my leftovers to have a totally new dish. Thanks for the idea!
Yum, I just finished a big plate of Chinese Chicken and Broccoli, so I am digging this recipe 🙂
Alisa- I love broccoli. Just bought a bunch at the farmers market. Hmm, maybe I’ll add it in to my leftovers to have a totally new dish. Thanks for the idea!
This sounds wonderful, but could you please tell us where to obtain the gluten-free soy sauce or how to make it? If it is a purchase, please give brand and vendor. Please. I very often find recipes here that talk about ingredients but do not tell us where to find or how to make them. I cannot have balsamic either, nor soy, grapes & raisins or dairy, so I have been at a loss in this. Or what is a good sub for soy sauce.
I spent years developing a gluten-free, lactose-free grape/raisin-free and soy-free ketchup only to learn just this week that (Per their CS dept) Heinz ketchup and mustards are gluten free – – "their labels have not caught up with them yet."
One must read the variety ingredients to find that which is lactose, grape/raisin and soy free, but this was an epiphany. However, after tasting it for the first time tonight I found that the Heinz was too sweet for my tastes; I find I like mine better, as it does not contain HFCS and is a bit more of a salty tangy flavor. It takes a bit to make, but is so worth it and my recipe makes 4-5 quarts, which lasts about 2-3 months or so.
So:
If anyone would like my recipe, please feel free to email me. And if anyone has a recipe for soy sauce (without grapes or raisins, either, as I am allergfic to them too), please email it to me. Thanks.
Thanks to the W.H.O.L.E. Gang for these most wonderful, informative and fun pages.
JMS
JMS- Thank you for visiting and commenting. I love questions too. The gluten free soy sauce can be found in main stream grocery stores now, Whole Foods and health food stores. I use San-J brand. This does contain soy. I'm not sure about an alternative but I recall there being a discussion about this on Gluten Free Easily by Shirley Braden. Check out her blog and see if she has a recipe for that. I often make my own ketchup too. I don't like all of the sugar they add either. I have to stay away from that. Great for you for being so creative and taking the initiative to make what you want to eat. Keep creating and joining into the community here. And keep those questions and comments coming!
This sounds wonderful, but could you please tell us where to obtain the gluten-free soy sauce or how to make it? If it is a purchase, please give brand and vendor. Please. I very often find recipes here that talk about ingredients but do not tell us where to find or how to make them. I cannot have balsamic either, nor soy, grapes & raisins or dairy, so I have been at a loss in this. Or what is a good sub for soy sauce.
I spent years developing a gluten-free, lactose-free grape/raisin-free and soy-free ketchup only to learn just this week that (Per their CS dept) Heinz ketchup and mustards are gluten free – – “their labels have not caught up with them yet.”
One must read the variety ingredients to find that which is lactose, grape/raisin and soy free, but this was an epiphany. However, after tasting it for the first time tonight I found that the Heinz was too sweet for my tastes; I find I like mine better, as it does not contain HFCS and is a bit more of a salty tangy flavor. It takes a bit to make, but is so worth it and my recipe makes 4-5 quarts, which lasts about 2-3 months or so.
So:
If anyone would like my recipe, please feel free to email me. And if anyone has a recipe for soy sauce (without grapes or raisins, either, as I am allergfic to them too), please email it to me. Thanks.
Thanks to the W.H.O.L.E. Gang for these most wonderful, informative and fun pages.
JMS
JMS- Thank you for visiting and commenting. I love questions too. The gluten free soy sauce can be found in main stream grocery stores now, Whole Foods and health food stores. I use San-J brand. This does contain soy. I’m not sure about an alternative but I recall there being a discussion about this on Gluten Free Easily by Shirley Braden. Check out her blog and see if she has a recipe for that. I often make my own ketchup too. I don’t like all of the sugar they add either. I have to stay away from that. Great for you for being so creative and taking the initiative to make what you want to eat. Keep creating and joining into the community here. And keep those questions and comments coming!