Chicken Stir Fry with Zha Cai

I make a lot of stir fry dishes for a couple of reasons. They tend to be fast to prepare, so great for weeknights when there isn’t time for a more complicated recipe. They also tend to be healthy, and if you make them with the right ingredients, full of flavor. This stir fry uses one of my favorite ingredients, zha cai.

Zha cai is the pickled stems of mustard plants. They aren’t super pretty to look at, but they are really tasty and add a lot of flavor to this stir fry. They have a texture similar to a cucumber but a bit more firm, and they add a powerful punch of tanginess and umami. They are sort of a super pickle. These are something just labeled ‘preserved vegetable’ in Asian markets, but you can buy online from amazon with the link above, which is what I do.

See my Favorite Item Links for the wok and wok spatula I use to make my stir fry recipes. The rest of the ingredients for this stir fry are pretty standard – oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, shaoxing wine. There are also links to some of these on that page.

Chicken Stir Fry with Zha Cai

Delicious full of flavor stir fry with chicken and preserved mustard stems

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 9 minutes mins

Total Time 19 minutes mins

Course Lunch, Main Course

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

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• 1 lb boneless chicken breasts thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 6 oz Zha cai
• 3 scallions sliced into 2 inch pieces
• oil for frying

Instructions

 

• Thinly slice the chicken breast and set aside.
• Combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, white pepper, chopped ginger and garlic, and cornstarch and mix well. This will be the sauce.
• Heat wok over high heat until 2 tbsp of oil is smoking. Add the chicken and allow to brown well before stirring. Toss and cook until the chicken is almost fully cooked through. Reduce the heat to low and add the sauce mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce simmers and thickens and the chicken is cooked. Add a little water if needed.
• Add in the zha cai and the scallion and toss until hot. Taste and add a pinch of salt if needed, but the zha cai add salt so you may not need more. Serve over hot rice with chili crisp on the side.

Keyword Asian, Lunch, Main Dish

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