Happy Valentine's Day!!! I sincerely hope you either spent time with your Valentine or that you were able to treat yourself special this past weekend. My husband is an amazing man who always lets his daughter know she is his Valentine as well. They even have a date planned for later this month. That is why he made sure she received a her own flowers and truffles for the special day.
We also have a tradition in our house to purchase a heart shaped pizza to celebrate. Especially because my husband and I tend to have a date a few days before or after the holiday in order to avoid the packed out restaurants. This year we chose Pizza Hut for our heart shaped pie and it was pretty tasty.
I had a very specific request this year for Valentine weekend. I informed my husband I just wanted to go grocery shopping at a couple stores that are about 30 minutes away without him or our daughter along for the ride. I wanted an entire morning to play in the grocery stores and find ingredients I do not normally have a chance to purchase. Of course, he was all good with that request.
One of my favorite places to shop for special ingredients are ethnic markets. Any chance I have to go into a Latino market, European market, Asian market or any other that I stumble upon I will spend ages going up and down every aisle. Often the employees or owners at those markets are happy to help you find what you need, read labels that you are unable to understand, provide preparation instructions or explain anything you might need. Also, if there is either food made on site for sale you definitely want to try the food. It will likely be your most authentic meal or dessert for that culture.
For this outing I went to Asia Pacific. On the website they note that they sell items from all parts of Asia and I love that for a specific part of the world I can find one stop shopping. “We carry a wide variety of genuine Asian groceries, including Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino and more!” They also have an on-site restaurant, seafood so fresh some of it is still swimming in the tank and some fresh made buns that are fabulous.
My other recommendation is to always check out the candy aisle in ethnic markets. Some of the finds are really unique. My husband always asks me to find coffee and green tea candies at the Asian market. They are his favorite.
Now that I have purchased some hard to find items it was time to go home and cook! However, this recipe is one that you should be able to make without any special shopping trips and can use items from your regular grocery stores.
Chicken and Broccoli is a pretty standard take out option from your local Chinese restaurant. Nearly everyone has had chicken & broccoli or beef & broccoli at some point but knowing how to make it yourself without too much effort and having control over the ingredients is really nice. It can also save you on the cost of take out as you can make a larger portion for your whole family for the price of a single meal at the restaurant.
Chicken & Broccoli ingredients:
12 ounces chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
6 cup Raw Broccoli Florets, cut into bite sized pieces
1chicken broth or 1cup water mixed with 2 tsp chicken broth base (I used Orrington Farms Broth Base)
2 tbsp and 1 tsp Cornstarch, divided
1 1/2 tsp Splenda
1 tbsp Shaohsing Rice Wine (you can use red wine or additional chicken broth, if needed)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp Vegetable Oil, divided
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1/8 tsp white pepper
3 tbsp Soy sauce
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce, divided
1 tsp Minced Garlic (I used jarred pre-minced)
***Corn Starch & Splenda missing from photo
One of the most important things when making any stir fry dish is to remember that cooking actually goes very quickly. You absolutely want to prep all your ingredients before you start so that you can just throw things in as needed.
First, make sure you cut the broccoli down to bite sized pieces. I bought a large bag of broccoli florets and found that they were huge pieces in the bag. If it won't be easy to just stab with a fork and eat you want to trim it down.
Second, will be to cut the chicken into bite sized pieces as well and add your ingredients to marinate the chicken for a few minutes. I always chop the chicken after the vegetables or I switch out the cutting board so there is not cross contamination from the raw chicken juices.
Once the chicken is diced add in 3 tbsp water, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp cornstarch and 1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil. Mix well with the raw chicken and leave this bowl to sit while you prepare everything else so the chicken can marinate properly.
Next you want to prepare your sauce. In a small bowl mix together chicken broth, ginger, Splenda, soy sauce, remaining oyster sauce, sesame oil and white pepper. Stir everything together until well combined and set aside.
After this prepare your ingredients that will be added during cooking. Since things move fast once you are started on a stir fry type recipe it is always best to have things ready to just toss in.
In seperate cups prepare:
1 tsp minced garlic (approximately 2 cloves if using fresh)
2 tbsp vegetable oil (not pictured but you will want 2 cups with 1 tbsp each)
1 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
2 tbsp corn starch mixed with 2 tbsp water for a slurry
In a wok (or large pan) heat enough water to cook your broccoli. Bring this water to a boil and add the broccoli to blanch or semi-cook.
Let the broccoli boil for approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Once broccoli is just beginning to soften drain broccoli and dry your pan.
Once your wok is dry place back over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add one of your tablespoons of oil and the marinated chicken.
Cook appoximately 3 minutes until chicken is 90% cooked through. This should take about 3 minutes. Remove the chicken to a seperate dish. We will add it back in at the end to finish cooking.
Without washing or wiping out your wok adjust the heat to medium and add in the remaining oil and garlic. Cook for 5 seconds and add the Shaoxing wine. After another 5 seconds add the sauce mixture.
Use your spatula to deglaze the pan and let sauce come to a simmer. Then add in the corn starch slurry. Mix constantly during this step as it will thicken the sauce into a gravy like consistency.
As soon as your sauce has thickened add your broccoli and chicken back into the wok.
Stir fry until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce covers all of your chicken and broccoli.
We served ours over steamed rice and topped with a combination of Yum Yum Sauce and Sriracha. This recipe is also fabulous with other veggies such as sliced carrots and zucchini.
Please also be sure to share with your friends and invite others to follow me for more recipes. I can't wait to experiment with some of my other new ingredients. I might even have another Asian inspired dish in 2 weeks. We shall see.....
