I don’t know a lot of people who eat chicken liver in its natural shape and form. Most will eat it in pâté form because chicken liver, or any other liver for that matter, is less intimidating that way.
But I’m bringing back this updated recipe anyway. Originally published in March 15, 2006, and updated in August 9, 2018 and January 1, 2021. This is the recipe from the 2021 update. An easy one, really, if you are well-acquainted with the ABCs of stir frying. If you prefer a little refresher, see the linked post below.
Guide to stir frying
Perfect stir fried dishes do not happen by magic. You need the right pan, cooking oil with high smoking point, and prepping the components of the dish before you start cooking.
The key to this chicken liver recipe is time and timing. The first part consists of patience and the second part is about working fast.
You need an at least an hour to marinate the chicken livers to allow the seasonings to penetrate to the thickest part of the organ. Then, you need to cook all the ingredients in the right order and only just long enough to cook them through.
Drain the chicken livers and cook over intensely high heat for a very short time. The high heat creates a crust on the surface of the livers while the short cooking time ensures that they get cooked all the way through without drying out.
(Overcooked chicken livers have a terrible mouth feel. The best illustration I can think of is wet cardboard. So, never overcook chicken livers especially if you’re trying them for the first time. I know people who never learned to appreciate them because of a bad first experience.)
Set aside the cooked chicken livers and stir fry the rest of the ingredients. Start with garlic, throw in the green beans, add sliced mushrooms and shelled hard-boiled quail eggs. Cook all that in the marinade that dripped back into the container when you removed the chicken livers to deep fry them.
Once the green beans and mushrooms are done, and the quail eggs have had enough time to soak up some of the seasonings in the marinade, just add back the cooked chicken livers, toss them in and cook just until heated through.
Chicken liver and green beans stir fry
Ingredients
- 500 grams chicken livers cleaned and each cut into 2-3 pieces depending on the size
- ¼ cup light soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- cooking oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons finely minced garlic
- 250 to 350 grams string beans (yard-long beans) broken into 2-inch lengths
- 6 button mushrooms thinly sliced
- 20 to 24 quail eggs hard boiled and shelled
Instructions
- Place the chicken livers in a glass bowl. Sprinkle in the pepper and pour in the soy sauce. Mix well. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
- In a wok or frying pan, heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least two inches.
- When the oil starts to smoke, drain the livers (reserve the marinade) and dump into the hot oil.
- Fry, stirring occasionally, until a light crust covers their surface, about two to three minutes. Be careful not to overcook them.
- Scoop out the chicken livers and move to a plate. Set aside.
- Pour off the oil leaving only about tablespoonful. Reheat.
- Over medium-low heat, cook the garlic until aromatic, about a minute.
- Throw in the string beans, turn up the heat and stir fry for about half a minute.
- Pour in the reserved marinade and continue stir frying for another minute or two.
- Add the sliced mushrooms to the string beans; stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Toss in the quail eggs.
- Pour in about two tablespoons of water, cover the wok or frying pan without turning down the heat and let everything cook in the steam for about a minute.
- Put the chicken livers back into the wok or frying pan. Stir fry until heated through.
- Serve the chicken liver and green beans stir fry immediately.
