Chicken and Bok Choy Stir Fry

Bok choy recently popped up again on our CSA, and we decided to give it another go. Last time, we tried a stir fry with pork, but suffered from a common issue with cooking white meat in small pieces - the pork turned out dry and tough. We can usually count on America's Test Kitchen to solve this sort of problem in ways we never would have thought of, so it was no surprise to find such a solution in our New Best Recipe cookbook. It was a success! I was very impressed with how moist and flavorful the chicken was, and really enjoyed the dish as a whole. Bok choy certainly won me over in this one! Here is an abridged version of the recipe.

First you need to prep the chicken breasts (1 pound). Slice them into 1/4-in strips and marinate 20 min to an hour in 1/4 c soy sauce, 1/4 c sherry, and 1 c water. Drain the chicken, then toss in a mixture of 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp cornstarch, and 1 tbsp flour.

1/4 c chicken broth

2 tbsp dry sherry

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (Left out for Whitney's sake)

4 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 minced garlic clove

1 small head bok choy (about 1 pound), stalks cut diagonally in 1/4-in slices and greens into 1/2-in strips

1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-in strips

Whisk broth, sherry, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, sugar, red pepper flakes, and 2 tsp ginger in a small bowl. Combine 2 tsp ginger, garlic, and 1 tsp peanut oil in another small bowl. Heat 2 tsp oil in skillet over high heat until smoking. Cook half the chicken for 1 minute on one side (until golden) and 30 seconds on the other side, then remove and repeat with other half. Remove chicken, then stir-fry bok choy stalks and bell pepper until beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add garlic-ginger to a clearing in center and mash with spoon, cooking 15 to 20 seconds, then stir everything and cook for another 30 seconds. Return chicken, and whisk sauce to recombine and add to skillet. Reduce heat and cook until sauce is thickened, about 30 seconds.

Flipping the chicken pieces

Action shot!

Serve over rice.