If you’ve stir fried before, you know that it requires a short cooking time over intensly high heat. The obvious question is how in the world can chunks of chicken soak up the seasonings in the pan if the cooking time is short? And how do the vegetables retain their crispness and color in the intense heat while cooking in a dark colored sauce?
The first trick to this stir fry is to season and marinate the chicken ahead of time. As in hours ahead or even overnight. It’s okay to season thin slices of chicken for just ten to 15 minutes. But chunks? Ahhhh, they need more time to soak up the flavors.
So, why not just cut the chicken into thin slices to simplify the preparation? In Asia, we prefer the red meat of chicken. Thighs and legs. When a chicken thigh or leg, or an entire leg quarter is deboned, the fillet isn’t of even thickness. That means it is difficult to cut them into uniform slices. You’ll just end up with uneven pieces. So, cutting into chunks is the way to go.
Now, about the vegetables. The trick is to precook them in seasoned water. That way, when they are tossed with the chicken and sauce, you’re practically just reheating them. They won’t stay in the hot stir fry pan long enough to soak up the color of the soy sauce or, worse, get overcooked and turn soggy.
With the chicken already seasoned and the vegetables already cooked, stir frying is a breeze. Just heat some oil, spread the chicken in the hot oil, cook until the meat loses its raw appearance then add the sauce which is really a modified teriyaki sauce. Soy sauce, sake and mirin. But because both the chicken and vegetables are already salted, instead of soy sauce, sake and mirin in equal parts, it’s one part soy sauce, two parts sake and two parts mirin.
The chicken cooks in the sauce to acquire some of the sweetness of sake and mirin, and to give the meat better color. Then, garlic and onion are added, the stir frying continues until most of the liquid has evaporated then the vegetables are tossed in. It takes just a minute to get the vegetables hot and coated with the sauce. And that’s all they need, really. By the time the vegetables are heated through, the chicken is perfectly done, and the dish is ready to be served.
Two posts I recommend to read before diving into the recipe. Not a must but they may prove extremely helpful.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken leg quarter fillets (about 400 grams)
- coarse salt
- ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
- 1 head broccoli (florets only; save the stem for another dish)
- 1 carrot
- sesame seed oil
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 onion peeled, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (I used Kikkoman)
- 2 tablespoons sake
- 2 tablespoons mirin
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken, pat dry with a kitchen towel and cut into bite-size pieces.
- Place the chicken in a bowl, add two teaspoons of salt and all of the pepper. Mix well.
- Cover the bowl and marinate the chicken for at least two hours (overnight is even better).
- Cut the broccoli head into florets.
- Peel the carrot, halve and cut into one-fourth inch slices.
- In a saucepan, boil about four cups of water with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of sesame seed oil.
- Drop in the broccoli florets and carrot slices, and cook for a minute after the water boils profusely again.
- Drain the broccoli florets and carrot slices, dump into a bowl of iced water, leave for a minute or two to cool then dump into a strainer.
- Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan or wok.
- Over high heat, spread the chicken pieces and cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink.
- Stir together the soy sauce, sake and mirin, and pour over the chicken. Cook, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by half.
- Stir in the garlic and onion; cook for a minute.
- Add the broccoli florets and carrot slices. Cook, tossing, just until the vegetables are heated through.
- Taste and add more salt or soy sauce, if needed.
- Serve hot.
