One of those things that I tend to crave when living overseas are any of the things I can’t get here, of course! Among those items are Chinese and Mexican food – so I have made a goal to figure out how to make fairly authentic tasting plates of my favorite dishes from these cultures. And today? I just had a hankering for some Moo Goo Gai Pan! It is one of my favorite dishes to order from P.F. Changs on their lunch menu since it has both shrimp and chicken and plenty of veggies served over white steamed rice. Heaven!
The one thing about Chinese cooking though is the sauces. I don’t know why they are so hard to imitate, but it’s like there is one ingredient that would make all the difference and you just can’t pin it down… which is the magic of “copycat recipes!” It get’s you started in the right direction, and paired with my knowledge of Chinese cooking gleaned from spending a lot of my time in high school with my best friend, who just happened to be 100% Chinese, at her house watching her mother and grandmother cook…. I was ready to make this dish!
All the recipes I managed to find called for a bit of oyster sauce which I found a bit troubling, since it meant that the sauce would not remain a cloudy white, which is indicative of Moo Goo Gai Pan, but I decided to trust it and go with it.
My faith failed me! The sauce was a light brown, like that you would find on beef and broccoli, and tasted amazing – but it just was not the Moo Goo Gai Pan sauce. The sauce aside, I decided to half-sies on the bamboo shoots, celery and water chestnuts, since I typically don’t like those three veggies in a large quantity and that wound up being a disheartening decision. As it turns out, these preggers taste buds really enjoyed all three of those veggies! Whodda thunk it?
I found myself pushing other veggies aside just to get to the bamboo and watercress especially which have their own special flavors and crunch, and then the celery!!! Then I finished up dinner by licking the plate! And as you might have noticed, I got fancy with the carrots. I cute-ified them! As we get closer to the New Year, I am missing one of my favorite soups, made only for New Years in Japan – which I will write about around New Years, but it is traditional to shape the veggies into certain shapes which all hold a special meaning to usher in the new year and I just felt like busting out some flowery carrots to adorn my dish and make me smile.
Of course the husband unit groaned and ate his dinner with a smile once he got home and realized what I had done with the carrots – at least he can depend on a level of continuity right??
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did! You can substitute out any of the proteins for beef, lamb, pork, other seafoods and I’m certain you will still love the taste!
Good luck in the kitchen!
Ingredients:
- 2 TBS vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb chicken breast, cut into strips
- as much shrimp, peeled and de-veined, as you like
- 2 TBS cornstarch
- 2 TBS white sugar
- 2 TBS soy sauce
- 2 TBS oyster sauce
- 2 TBS sake, rice wine
- 1/2 C chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 C mushrooms, sliced (I chose shittatke)
- 2 C broccoli florets
- one 8 oz can of bamboo shoots, sliced
- one 8 oz can of water chestnuts, sliced
- 15 oz can of straw mushrooms (optional)
- 3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
- 3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
- any additional veggies you would like to add, we added sugar snap peas!
Heat a large skillet until hot, add one tablespoon of oil, heat until smoky. Stir in the veggies, one at a time, starting with the ones that will require a longer cook time. Stir for 5-6 minutes until all the veggies are cooked then remove and set it aside.
Blend the cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sake and broth in a bowl, mixing well and set aside.
Re-heat the remaining oil, stir in the garlic, cooking for about 30 seconds, then add the chicken, cooking it until it is not pink in the center and add the shrimp at the last minute. Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken and shrimp, bringing it to a boil, then stir constantly for 30 seconds.
Reduce the heat to low, add the veggies to the proteins, and toss with the sauce until all the pieces are well coated with the sauce and re-heated before serving over a bed of white rice.