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Sesame Ginger Chicken with Beans and Mushrooms

recipe

This is tasty recipe. As you can tell, I've been making more chicken dishes... yum. With good chicken, beans and mushrooms, this dish is out of this world in terms of just the right garlic, ginger and sesame ratio with a little lingering heat.

This recipe is a stir fry, so it takes a good chunk of time to prep and then to cook. I like to do this dish in about 100 minutes total with a chunk of non-cooking time in the middle. The mimics what my Dad and Sherrie do where they prepare the meal right up to the cooking stage, have a "beverage hour" and then cook it all when they first start to get hungry.

This recipe is a bit different than one of my normal recipes. I've tried to orchestrate it such that everything is ready to be served at once. In this spirit, I have ETA notation by each step... that is, "S-45" means 45 minutes until the meal is served.

Sesame Ginger Chicken with Beans and Mushrooms

(Serves: 4)

Ingredients

Rice

  • 1 c. rice (basmati)
  • 2 c. H2O

Chicken & Marinade

  • 1/4 c. soy sauce
  • 1/4 c. cooking sherry
  • 1 c. H2O
  • 16 oz. chicken breast
  • 2 tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp. AP flour

Stir Fry

  • Peanut oil for stir-frying
  • 1/2 c. chicken broth (low-sodium)
  • 3 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp. cooking sherry
  • 4 tsp. Vietnamese chili sauce
  • 4 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp. sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp. sesame oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. ginger, minced
  • 1 lb. green beans
  • 8 oz. shitake mushrooms

Directions

  1. (S-97) Put chicken in freezer for 20 minutes to ease slicing. While the chicken is chilling, combine soy sauce, sherry and water for marinade in medium bowl.
  2. (S-77) Remove chicken from freezer and slice in 1" x 1/4" strips and place in marinade. Cover and put in fridge for one hour.
  3. (S-72) Next, we will prep veggies and such for the stir fry:
    1. (A) In a snack cup or other tiny bowl, combine 1 tbsp. each of cornstarch and flour.
    2. (B) Toast the 1 tbsp. sesame seed in a small skillet (no oil!) for 7-10 minutes, until golden or slightly fragrant, set aside.
    3. (C) Press or mince three garlic cloves, set aside.
    4. (D) Mince 1 tsp. ginger root, set aside.
    5. (E) Wash green beans. Trim ends and then cut into 1" pieces on the bias, set aside.
    6. (F) Wash shitakes. Remove stems and slice into 1/8" pieces, set aside.
    7. (G) Add 2/3 garlic and ginger to 1 tsp. peanut oil in a small bowl, set aside.
  4. (between S-72 and S-35) Get a drink, hang out... the chicken can be marinated for a bit longer than 60 minutes, but you might want to drain it and put it back in the bowl, covered, in the fridge.
  5. (S-35) Start heat on water for rice. When boiling, add rice, stir, cover and reduce to a slight simmer.
  6. (S-17) Make stir fry sauce by adding chicken broth, soy sauce, sherry, chili sauce, sugar, cornstarch, 2 tsp. sesame seeds, 1 tsp. sesame oil and 1 tsp. garlic in small bowl.
  7. (S-14) Mix (A) and 2 tsp. sesame oil in a medium bowl until smooth. Drain chicken in strainer. Toss chicken in cornstarch/flour/oil mixture, set aside.
  8. (S-12) Now we start to fry. Heat 2 tsp. peanut oil in large skillet on medium-high until smoking. Add half of the chicken in 1 layer flat and cook without stirring for about 1 minute, until golden brown on bottom. Flip the chicken with a spatula and let cook for 30 seconds more. Put cooked chicken in a clean medium bowl. Repeat with 2 tsp. peanut oil and remaining chicken.
  9. (S-7) Add 1 tbsp. peanut oil to empty skillet, heat until smoking. Add green beans and cook for one minute, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly (stir-frying!) for another 3 minutes. While stir-frying, remove rice from heat, remove cover and fluff rice, return cover loosely.
  10. (S-2) Push mushrooms and green beans to sides of skillet. Add mixture from (G) above (garlic-ginger mixture) to center of skillet and cook, mashing for 30-45 seconds. Stir into beans and mushrooms and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
  11. (S-1) Add chicken to skillet, stir. Whisk the stir-fry sauce in its bowl quickly to remix and then add to skillet; reduce heat to medium and cook for 30 seconds to cook the sauce down just a bit and cook chicken through.
  12. (S-0) Place stir-fry on serving platter and drizzle with 1 tsp. sesame oil and remaining sesame seeds. Put rice on four plates or in a covered serving bowl. Eat.