Ingredients
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¼ cup Soy Sauce
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¼ cup Dry Sherry
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¼ cup packed Brown Sugar
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1 tablespoon toasted Sesame Oil
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1 (2-inch) piece fresh Ginger
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2 Garlic
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1 teaspoon grated Orange Zest
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1 pound boneless, skinless Chicken
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3 tablespoons Cornstarch
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3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
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8 ounces Shiitake Mushrooms
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8 ounces sugar Snap Peas
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¼ cup dry-roasted Peanuts
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2 Scallions
Directions
In order for our stir-fry to be make-ahead friendly, we needed to choose our ingredients carefully. We tested several vegetables, and ultimately decided on the combination of rich, meaty shiitake mushrooms and crisp, fresh sugar snap peas. Both the mushrooms and snap peas stood up well to being prepped and stored; plus, they cooked at a similar rate. We made a flavorful, umami-packed sauce from soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and orange zest. “Velveting” the chicken, or marinating in a combination of cornstarch and oil (we used sesame oil for flavor), helped prevent stringiness and encouraged the sauce to cling to the meat. We found that we could boost the flavor of our chicken even further by mixing a small amount of our sauce with our velveting mixture. We were happy to find that letting the chicken sit in the mixture overnight had no adverse effects. We topped our stir-fry with peanuts for crunch and thinly sliced scallions for a fresh onion bite. Serve with rice.
Steps
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1
Done
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Combine soy sauce, sherry, sugar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and orange zest in bowl. Transfer 3 tablespoons soy sauce mixture to second bowl, add chicken and cornstarch, and toss to coat; let sit for 20 minutes. Whisk orange juice into remaining soy sauce mixture. |
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2
Done
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Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half of chicken, breaking up any clumps, and cook without stirring for 1 minute. Stir chicken and continue to cook until lightly browned, about 30 seconds; transfer to clean bowl. Repeat with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and remaining chicken. |
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3
Done
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Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in now-empty skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add mushrooms and snap peas and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are softened and snap peas are spotty brown, about 4 minutes. |
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4
Done
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Return chicken to skillet with vegetables, whisk sauce to recombine, then add to skillet. Cook, tossing constantly, until sauce is thickened, about 1 minute. Off heat, sprinkle with peanuts and scallions. Serve. |
