Ginger Chicken

Saturday night was our first night in the new house. We spent Saturday moving out of our temporary apartment in Irvine. We are still waiting for our things to arrive that were in storage, and hope they arrive soon.
My mom, bless her heart, spent her morning helping us move and then her afternoon babysitting Squirrel while we went and bought me a car! When we finally got back I decided that we needed to have an inaugural dinner to start breaking in the new kitchen. With the Olympics going I’ve had Chinese food on the brain, so I whipped out a favorite recipe for Ginger Chicken. This recipe comes from the family recipe files of my friend Jackie, who I mentioned in my last post, and it is to die for. She says,

“When I was little, the meal I always requested for my birthday was my mom’s Ginger Chicken. The highlight of the meal was the sauce, which when made it gives an exuberant crackle as ginger and green onion meets hot oil. We would put this sauce on everything for that meal and would even eat it in spoonfuls straight up.”
I can see why she always requested this because it is seriously yummy! Even if you are not a ginger person, I’m guessing you will still love this dish. The ginger is tempered by the green onion and the brief cooking when the hot oil is added. Because I’ve made this before and know how addictively good it is, I doubled the recipe for the sauce (believe me, you will lick up every last drop). I cheated by using a roasted chicken I bought at the grocery store to save some time. Everyone had more than one helping, including Squirrel who had THREE helpings. She just kept cleaning up her plate and asking for more! The best part about this recipe is that it is a quick fix and it is affordable to make.

Ginger Chicken
serves 4

1/2 whole chicken, or 3 small chicken breasts
1 mediumish bunch green onions, ends trimmed and discarded
1 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
1 tsp salt
5 Tbs oil, canola or vegetable

1. Boil chicken until completely cooked but do not overcook. Cut off bone and skin and slice chicken. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, mince green onion and ginger. Mix in the salt.
3. In a skillet or wok, heat the oil until slightly steamy. Immediately add the oil to the green onion and ginger mixture – this should crackle a bit and if it doesn’t your oil was not hot enough. Stir.
4. Serve ginger sauce on top of chicken slices over a bed of hot Jasmine rice.

As a side dish I made stir-fried baby bok choy, another quick fix and healthy too!

Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy
4 Servings

4 bunches baby bok choy
1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 slices fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar, or to taste
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/4 c. water
a few drops sesame oil (I always used toasted sesame oil because it has so much more flavor)

1. Wash the baby bok choy and drain. Separate the stalks and leaves. Cut any larger leaves in half.
2. Heat wok and add vegetable oil. When oil is ready, add ginger and stir-fry briefly until the ginger is aromatic (about 30 seconds).
3. Add the bok choy, adding the stalks first and then the leaves. Stir in the soy sauce, sugar, and salt, and stir-fry on high heat for 1 minute.
4. Add the water, cover the wok and simmer for about 2 minutes.
5. Take off the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Tagged as: chicken, ginger, green onions, rice, vegetable oil