Moo shu chicken
"Moo shu" is the Westernized transliteration of mu xi, the Chinese name for sweet osmanthus, a plant whose delighful edible white and yellow flowers I discovered in a restaurant in Hong Kong. There are no osmanthus flowers in this dish but the yellow chunks of egg are said to resemble clusters of osmanthus.
Ingredients
- 400 grams chicken fillets thinly sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 one-inch piece ginger peeled and grated
- light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- sesame seed oil
- 1 ¼ cup dried wood ears soaked in hot water for 30 minutes (1 ¼ cups is the measurement after soaking) and trimmed
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 ½ tablespoons oyster sauce
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup chicken bone broth
- 3 large eggs lightly beaten
- ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions plus more to garnish
Instructions
- Place the chicken strips in a bowl. Add the grated ginger, two tablespoons of soy sauce, a generous drizzle of rice wine, a tablespoon and a half of starch and a drizzle of sesame seed oil. Mix well. Set aside and allow to marinate. Use this time to cook rice.
- Drain the wood ears and cut into one-inch slices.
- Cut the cucumbers vertically into halves. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut into slices about a quarter of an inch thick. Place in a bowl, sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt and toss.
- Crush, peel and mince the garlic.
- In a small bowl, make the sauce by mixing together the oyster sauce, sugar, chicken broth, the remaining starch and tablespoon and a half of light soy sauce.
- Heat a tablespoon of sesame oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Drizzle in a little soy sauce over the beaten eggs and whisk. Pour into the hot oil. When partially set, stir around to break into rather large lumps. Scoop out and transfer to a plate.
- Pour two tablespoons of sesame oil into the pan. When starting to smoke, spread the marinated chicken in a single layer. Do not move them for a minute or so until the undersides are browned. Flip over and lightly brown the opposite side.
- Add the garlic and wood ears to the chicken. Stir fry for a minute.
- Squeeze the cucumber slices to remove excess liquid, add to the chicken and toss.
- Add the eggs and scallions, and toss.
- Pour in the sauce and cook, stirring a few times, until the liquid is thick and no longer cloudy.
- Ladle rice into bowls, top with moo shu chicken and more scallions.
- Serve the moo shu chicken rice bowls at once.