Thanks to his cooking program on the Television Food Network, Ming Tsai has gone from chef to culinary celebrity, taking recipes from his Massachusetts restaurant, Blue Ginger, and using them to introduce cooking with Asian ingredients in a most appealing way. Beyond being attractive, serene, and engagingly articulate, Ming Tsai makes cooking with Asian ingredients look easy.
Chicken chow mein, that much abused warhorse of Chinese-American cooking, has a thoroughly respectable ancestry. The Chinese have always stir-fried noodles with savory accompaniments. I remember my dad concocting great dishes using leftover boiled noodles and fresh vegetables. My version, featuring bok choy and shiitake mushrooms, takes the dish a step further. It's the way chicken chow mein should be made.
Serves: 4
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus additional
1 tablespoon sambal oelek
1 pound chicken meat, preferably from legs and thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound fresh or dried to mein (egg noodles)
5 tablespoons canola oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 cups quartered fresh shiitake mushroom caps
4 heads bok choy, cored and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 cup Chicken Stock or low-sodium canned broth
Salt
In a large bowl, combine the cornstarch and wine and mix. Stir in the oyster sauce, ginger, scallions, the 1 teaspoon pepper, and the sambal oelek. Add the chicken, stir to coat, and allow to marinate covered and refrigerated for at least 2 hours and preferably overnight.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a bowl with water and add ice. Add the lo mein to the boiling water and cook until al dente, about 5 minutes for fresh, 10 to 15 minutes for dried. Drain and transfer the noodles to the ice water. When cold, drain and toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Set aside.
Heat a wok over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and swirl to coat. When the oil shimmers, add the garlic and shiitakes and stir-fry until the mushrooms are soft, about 4 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and set aside. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil and, when hot, add the chicken and stir-fry until almost cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the bok choy and stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add the stock and season with the salt and pepper to taste. Add the reserved shiitakes and the noodles. Stir to coat, and heat through, about 5 minutes.
