Chicken in Oyster has been popular in our house since my boys Ben and Liam were young. We prefer it with drumsticks, Emma prefers it with just thigh meat.
It can be done with breast but we rarely use that cut of chicken as I find it CAN dry out and leg meat has more flavour.
Ingredients required are:
3 chicken drumsticks per person or 3 thighs per person. Like I say breast can be used, if that is your preference then 1 per person. Either way remove the skin.
1 large white onion, sliced thinly.
1 red/green bell pepper sliced thinly.
3 fresh, de-seeded chillis. No need for scotch bonnet just normal chillis.
1/2 bulb of garlic, grated or pounded into a paste.
Thumb size piece of freshly peeled ginger root. NEVER GROUND GINGER!!
10 button or chestnut mushrooms, cut into quarters.
A cup of chicken stock.
Oyster Sauce.
Dark Soy.
Sesame Oil.
Shaoxing cooking wine.
Black Vinegar. Rice vinegar works but black is better…insert your own joke here.
1 egg white.
Cornflour.
Method:
Take the skin from the chicken and discard it.
If using the advised drumsticks or the thighs then cut slashes into the flesh. This will allow the marinade to get in and do its job. If you are using breast then cut into very thin slices and place in a bowl.
To the meat add 3 tablespoons of soy, cooking wine, a tablespoon of cornflour and the whisked up egg white. Using the best kitchen tools there are, your hands, and massage all these ingredients into the meat thoroughly. Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge. A couple of hours is best really.
Take the garlic and place it in the pestle and mortar. Slice the fresh ginger up as small as you can and add this to the garlic. Chop the chilli and add this to the mix too. It is up to you if you keep the seeds, it’s not a game of man or mouse so it’s your call. Now add a dash of veg oil and a pinch or sea or rock salt. The salt helps to break the other things down. Now smash all the garlic, chilli and ginger together until you get a paste.
When all is smashed and all is chopped we are ready to fry.
Heat the wok up until it is smoking and add 2 tablespoons of veg oil. Swirl it around the pan so that the pan is coated.
Then introduce the onions into the pan with the pepper. Stir them about and begin to stir fry.
After 2 minutes add the garlic/ginger/chilli paste and cook this off. Keep moving the ingredients around to ensure no sticking.
Now add the chicken pieces and quickly stir them around the wok. Cook this off for approx 2-3 minutes and then add the stock.
At this point I add some more rice wine, black vinegar and 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce. I also turn the heat down but ensure it’s at a rolling boil.
Cover with the lid and cook for another 8 minutes. This is to ensure the meat is cooked right through. The slashes we made during marination will help with this too.
When we are happy we are safely cooked I add the mushrooms and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Once the mushrooms are cooked and everything is nice and sticky we are ready to serve.
i like to sprinkle a little bit of sesame oil on the food in the wok just before serving as this oil is strong in flavour but not for cooking with.
This is great on either plain boiled basmati rice or with eggy fried rice…or noodles as in this photo !!