Chicken Chow Mein

1. Cook the pasta “al dente”, drain through a sieve and rinse under cold running water to interrupt the cooking process. Drizzle with a little sesame oil and stir to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Drain well. Meanwhile, marinate the chicken:

the chicken

1. Cut the chicken breast fillet into thin slices. Beat the starch with the sherry until smooth. Make a marinade from soy and chilli sauce, the mixed starch and sesame oil. Season the meat in a bowl with pepper and pour the marinade over it and mix well. Let marinate for at least 20-30 minutes or cover in the refrigerator for a few hours. In the meantime prepare the vegetables:

the vegetable

1. The different colors of the vegetables make the dish beautifully colorful. Do not fry the vegetables and pasta too long, both should still have a slight “bite” at the end.
2. Press the garlic with a wide, flat knife blade (remove the flaking skin) and roughly chop it. Not too fine, otherwise it will turn bitter when frying. Peel the ginger and chop it into fine pieces. Peel, halve and slice the onion. Clean and peel the carrot and cut into pieces approx. 3-4 fingers wide. Cut the pieces lengthways into thin slices, then lengthways into thin sticks. Also clean and wash the leek and cut into strips of the same length. Wash and core the peppers and cut into strips. Halve, quarter or eighth of the mushrooms depending on their size.
3. Heat peanut oil in a hot wok or pan. Drain the chicken and stir-fry until it is almost cooked. Deglaze with the chicken stock. Stir in the marinade and bring to the boil briefly. If necessary, add a little more stock or water until the consistency of the sauce is right. Turn off the heat and put the meat aside.
4. Rinse the wok or heat a large stew pan. Let the peanut oil get hot again and gradually (depending on the hardness) brown the vegetables while stirring and continue to fry. First, fry the garlic and onions – everything, stirring as usual – for 1 minute. Then add the carrot sticks and the ginger and fry for 1 minute. Finally fry the leeks, mushrooms and peppers for 2 minutes.
5. Finally fry the pasta for 2-3 minutes. Also add the chicken and the sauce and heat for 3-4 minutes. Mix everything together well. Meanwhile, season to taste with salt, pepper, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and the spice mixture (“wok” or “Asia” or similar). Drizzle with a little sesame oil to flavor. Enjoy your meal!

vegetarian variant

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Remarks

1. You can also fry the pasta separately in oil until crispy. According to the YouTube films, that’s how Americans prefer it. On the other hand, I prefer the pasta to be soft. Obviously, olive oil is often used for frying this dish overseas, sometimes even as hot as smoke, so that toxic substances can develop! In my opinion, that doesn’t go well with this Asian dish in terms of taste alone. The peanut oil that is often used here is, in my opinion, more authentic.