Share Alike Cooking: Almond Chicken Stir Fry

There are plenty of vegetables listed in the recipe's ingredients, but what if you have zucchini on hand, or grow it in your garden? I think that would taste great. Switch it up, and have FUN! Ooh, how about some canned baby corn? Now, I just can't help but think of a very young Tom Hanks, as Josh, in his ornate white tux (LOL!) eating his teensy-weensy ~ corn on the cob ~ in the movie, "BIG!" 😆

Now, this is a Chinese WHITE Sauce recipe. So trust me, try the recipe first as written, it's delicious, much like the classic dish you'd find in most Chinese restaurants.

However, if you are still just a die-hard Chinese BROWN Sauce fan, here's what you can do. Stir in La Choy Light soy sauce (gluten-free), adding 1-Tbsp at a time, always, I add by taste. Then tinker with the sugar, salt & pepper. Brighten it up with some rice vinegar, I add 1/2-tsp at a time, until I'm satisfied. Also, pump up the heat, with more red pepper flakes. Share in the comments, if you have a brown sauce recipe you like!

Another thing, I'm always careful not to over-cook the chicken or vegetables. In fact, I slightly undercook my veggies a bit, as we like ours crisp, with some bite to them.

There are only two of us now at home these days, but I still do stir-fry up the full recipe in my LARGE, non-stick electric wok, which I've loved, really for decades! It's non-stick, so the oil is only for enhancing the flavor of the food. At the end of the recipe, I choose NOT to combine the White Sauce and Almond Chicken Stir Fry but store them in the refrigerator separately.

So, for 1-2 the servings, I use my MED-SIZED, flat-bottom, stove-top wok to (freshen up) the Almond Chicken Stir Fry on HIGH. and have no worries of scorching the sauce right off. Once the chicken and veggies are warm, spoon in some sauce to heat through. You'll LOVE it. They won't even taste like left-over. In fact, the serving picture was set up this way, and I purposely used less sauce to feature the Almond Chicken And Veggies. LOL! Afterwards, when I offered the pictured plate of food to my husband, he asked for, "More sauce… please!" I obliged, and he loved it!

Almond Chicken Stir Fry
Serves: 6

Prep:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, bias sliced
2 carrots, sliced (bias cut, if desired)
2 celery ribs, sliced (bias cut, if desired)
4-oz snow peas, strings removed
4-oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 (8-oz) can water chestnuts, sliced, drained
1/2 (8-oz) can bamboo shoots, drained
1-lb Napa cabbage, sliced

Stir Fry: for White Sauce
2 Tbsp oil, divided (more, if needed)
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes, more or less
1/2 cup onion, minced
Granulated sugar, add to taste
Salt and pepper, add to taste

White Sauce:
3 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade* or canned
3 Tbsp cornstarch

Served With:
6 cups cooked rice, white or brown
1 cup blanched almonds, whole

DIRECTIONS

Prep: Slice the chicken and vegetables. Refrigerate the chicken separately from the veggies. Mince fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and onion; chill now, to stir-fry for the White Sauce later. Lastly, combine a small amount of chicken broth with cornstarch for a slurry, stir in the remaining broth. Chill.

*If you don't have any homemade broth, at least canned broth, rather than using bouillon cubes, a better, tastier option is.. to always have a chicken base on hand instead! To name a few terrific brands: Tone's Chicken Base (Sam's), McCormick (Costco) or Better than Bouillon (grocer's). Just follow the instructions on the labels for amounts. Again, I add carefully, judging correctly by my taste buds.

Rice: Before dinner get your rice cooking according to the package directions, or as your manual directs (i.e.: rice cooker

or Instant Pot

).

Almonds & Chicken: In a non-stick electric wok

, over HIGH heat (375°F) a drop of water should sizzle into a puff of steam. Heat 1-tsp oil, and stir-fry the almonds for about 2 min, or until lightly golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add 1-Tbsp oil to stir-fry the chicken. Transfer the cooked chicken to a large, 2-qt covered container. Set aside.

Veggies: Heat 1-tsp oil to stir-fry the veggies. Add the carrots first, stir-frying 1-2 minutes. Add the celery, cook 1 minute just before adding the snow peas. Don't over-cook, stir-fry until just barely tender, but still crisp. Add to the chicken. Stir-fry the mushrooms for 30 seconds, add water chestnuts, and then bamboo shoots; briefly stir-fry, before transferring to the chicken. Finally, quickly stir-fry the sliced cabbage until only wilted; toss in with veggies, almonds, and chicken.

White Sauce: Over HIGH heat, pour in 1-tsp oil in the empty wok, add the minced ginger; stir-fry briefly for 15 seconds. Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes, to quickly stir-fry those for 15-30 seconds. If necessary, lower the heat slightly, so as to begin to burn anything. Add the minced onion, and stir-fry until translucent. Stir the chicken broth, cornstarch mixture; pour into the wok. Stir and heat through, until thickened. Sweeten, starting with 1 tsp sugar (going by taste). Season with salt and pepper, as desired.

(EITHER) You can add the cooked chicken, the almonds (reserving some), and the veggies back into the wok with the white sauce, and heat through. Serve over 6 servings of hot cooked rice. Sprinkle with reserved almonds over top.

(OR) At this point, the white sauce can be (instead refrigerated) and stored separately from Almond Chicken & Stir-Fried Vegetables. Later, any # servings of Almond Chicken & Vegetables can be easily refreshed (stir-fried) again, with the sauce at the end to heat through, w/o tasting like plain old leftovers!

Enjoy,

Sharon Anne

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