Chicken Chop Suey
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1large or 2 medium chicken thighs
- 1½pounds bok choy, washed and cut into eighths lengthwise, then crosswise into 3-to-4-inch ribbons
- 2tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1½tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1teaspoon sugar
- 1tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
- 1teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- Salt to taste
- White pepper
Preparation
- Step 1
In two cups of boiling water, simmer the chicken for 30 minutes. Remove chicken from the water, and let cool. Reserve the stock. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat, chop and set aside; discard the skin and bones.
- Step 2
Put the vegetable oil in a large, wide skillet set over high heat. When it is hot, add the bok choy, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Then add half the reserved stock to the pan, and cover; cook until the bok choy is crisp but still tender, about 2 minutes. Remove the cover, and continue cooking until the liquid evaporates and the bok choy browns a bit, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Step 3
Add the remaining stock and the chicken to the pan set over high heat. Heat the chicken through, then add the oyster sauce, sugar, cornstarch slurry, sesame oil and reserved bok choy; season to taste. Toss to combine, and serve immediately over rice.
Private Notes
Comments
My husband and I are from Boston where the Cantonese style Chinese food was superb. My husband, who is a purist, insisted I use thin sliced, celery, onions and bean sprouts (which meant a trip to the store). We also got him some crunchy chow mein noodles. The bok choy I had to sneak in, since he doesn't like that.. He never noticed. I added ginger and garlic for more punch and for more flavor, I use chicken stock with the cornstarch. Served it over brown rice. He said I can make this again!
Very nice basic recipe as is that can easily be modified to suit ones individual tastes. Grandma Li and I added 1tsp each of sauteed garlic and ginger. As for vegetables we added mushrooms, slivered carrot, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and bean sprouts to the mix. Some folks may also enjoy adding Romano green beans (Italian) to their Chinese-American dishes.
Served over rice this is the classic Chinese-American called Chop Suey. When served over fried noodles it then becomes Chow Mein.
I've cooked this dish a number of times now. I think the secret is to add an appropriate amount of salt while cooking the stock, and a popular move has been to add a star anise to the stock while it is cooking which brings the whole dish to life. I have from time to time included shiitake. It is a very clean dish. I cook it from time to time for myself and for friends who love it too.
I have made this a bunch of times, but I did make several changes, just to make it more of a hearty meal. I basically double the recipe and cook the chicken in stock, added a thinly sliced onion, garlic, shitake mushrooms, celery and bamboo shoots. It may not be traditional but my family loves this.
Substituted hoisin for oyster sauce, added a little soy. Delicious and easy.
Made this numerous times. Love it. Go light on the poaching liquid in step 2. Otherwise it will take too long to steam off and the bok choy might be mush. Also, bean sprouts, please.