Easy Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry
Straightforward simple recipe for classic Chinese style Chicken & Broccoli stir fry (and more!)
Equipment
- Wok
Ingredients
Sauce/Base Flavours
- 2 tbsp cooking oil Canola or Peanut oil work best (something with high smoke point)
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tbsp hoisin
- 3-4 cloves Garlic
- 2 tsp ground ginger (1 tsp ginger powder)
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp soy sauce (to taste)
- 1 tsp sesame seeds black or white - for garnish
Meat and Veg
- 4 thighs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 large onion (diced or sliced) (white or yellow)
- 1 medium broccoli, chopped into florets and stalk (for different cooking time and texture)
- 1 medium bell pepper (your choice of colour!)
- 2 medium carrots, chopped on an angle (optional)
- 1 cup mushrooms (cremini or shittaake) (optional)
- 1/2 can baby corn (optional)
- 1/3 cup cornstarch paste (mix water and cornstarch until becomes a liquidy paste)
Instructions
Meat steps first.
- Meat on heat first. Heat wok over medium heat, adding cooking oil (be more mindful of temperature if using olive oil) - save sesame oil for once meat is in the pan (sesame oil has a lower burn temp than other oils), add chicken once oil is runny.
- Using hot oil, coat chicken in stir, ensuring chicken is cooking, then add onions, soy sauce, sesame oil and hoisin, then garlic. (make sure garlic goes in last as to avoid burning)
- Stir until chicken is all white, slightly browned and then remove from eat, leaving some sauce in pan if possible.
Vegetables and Finish
- Using any leftover sauce in the wok, add vegetables, keeping in mind different cooking times for each. First stir broccoli stems and carrots, stirring into sauce - allow 30-60 sec and add broccoli florets, peppers, mushrooms and whatever else you’re tossing in.
- Steam for 2-3 min, ensuring broccoli and peppers are still slightly crisp and brightly coloured but not wilted.
- Add meat back into the mix and stir thoroughly, coating all sauce vegetables with the sauce.
- Add corn starch to liquid until sauce thickens over heat. This should create a nice glaze and liquid should not be runny. Be careful, also, not to burn new sauce and cornstarch mix to bottom of pan.
- Remove from heat, garnish and serve right away with rice and/or other dishes from your feast!
Notes
Corn starch is to thicken the sauce - that's the whole point!
Again, this can be done all in one step, but this is a great way to keep your vegetables bright and crisp by adding just one simple step. This way you guarantee great texture and mouth feel without compromising looks.