Well, they say that it is the classical Chop Suey that paved the way for Chinese Cuisine into the western world. That one of the biggest cuisines in the world is represented to the world by a dish that did not even originate in China but some handful miles away from the busy city San Francisco in USA is somewhat amusing! Finding Indian Chinese a little too insulting for both the cuisine, we settled for the biggest diplomat.
Ingredients
Egg white 1/4
Chicken, thinly shredded – 4 – 6 ounces
Cornstarch paste – 1 tablespoon
Seasoned oil – about 1/2 pint (recipe below)
Finely chopped garlic (optional) 1/2 teaspoon
Thinly shredded fresh ginger root1 tablespoon
Spring onions, thinly shredded3 – 4
Bean sprouts – 4 – 6 ounces
Green pepper, cored and seeded, thinly shredded1 small
Castor sugar – 1/2 teaspoon
Light soy sauce – 1 tablespoon
Chinese rice wine – 1/2 tablespoon
Stock – 2 tablespoons
Sesame oil – 2- 3 drops
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Procedure
Combine chicken shreds with a pinch of the salt, egg whites and cornflour/cornstarch paste. Meanwhile, in a wok, heat oil. Blanch the chicken in warm oil and stir.
Drain the chicken and stir fry all the vegetables in the same seasoned oil with the remaining salt and the sugar. At this point, add the chicken, soy sauce and rice wine and stir-fry for another minute. Pour in stock, stir and mix in the remaining cornflour
Garnish with sesame oil and serve hot.
Seasoned oil recipe
Pour about 500 ml of vegetable oil into a pre-heated wok and over high heat add 2 – 3 small pieces of ginger root. Fry them till it rises to the surface and turns brown. Remove the ginger pieces and store oil for your next Chinese preparation.