Stir-fried chicken with ginger and scallions (姜葱鸡) is a traditional Chinese dish. As simple as the ingredients sound, this is not an easy dish to cook well. This dish needs a lot of wok skills. Hence, this ginger-and-scallions style of cooking is often my litmus test when I go to a new Chinese/Cantonese restaurant. If a chef can make a mighty wok hei-infused ginger-and-scallions dish–be it chicken, beef, crab, or lobster–it’s a sure fire sign that the food will be great.
At home, I like cooking this dish when I want something quick and simple with my steamed rice (aka 30-minute meal) . I always marinate the chicken meat with potato flour (生粉) or corn starch. (This is one of the many secrets of Chinese cooking; this process will make the meat extra tender and smooth.) I once asked a master Chinese chef and he told me that potato flour is preferred as a tenderizing agent due to the gelatinous texture. He also told me that a wee bit of baking soda will do even more wonders to tenderize the meat.
Ginger and scallions. Chicken and rice. My ideal and homey meal.
Recipe: Stir-fried Chicken with Ginger and Scallions
Ingredients:
1 chicken breast (deboned, skinned and cut lengthwise into 2-inch chicken strips)
4 stalks of scallions (cut into 2-inch sections)
2 inches fresh ginger root (sliced into pieces)
3 tablespoons cooking oil (one tablespoon for marinating chicken)
1/2 tablespoon of potato flour or corn flour
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
1 dash of white pepper powder
Salt to taste
Method:
Marinate the chicken strips with potato flour or corn flour and add one tablespoon of oil to seal in the juice of the chicken. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
Heat up your wok and pour the remaining cooking oil into the wok. When the wok gets very hot and begins to smoke, add in the ginger and stir for a few seconds, then add the scallions and stir until thoroughly hot. Add in the chicken strips and continue to stir well. Just when the chicken strips start to cook, add in the oyster sauce, sesame oil, cooking wine, white pepper, sugar, and toss the wok a few times. Remove from heat and serve hot with steamed white rice.
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{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
the wonder of this style is one can practically use all sorts of meat ie fish, beef, venison…
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Simple yet delicious! And your presentation and photography skills are to be learnt! ;)
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Love this quick, healthful dish! It’s beautiful like spring time.
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I love this dish but I personally prefer beef as the main meat. I am so glad that you’re back now as I have missed your posts. Going to try out your ginger-scallion recipe on my next day off. I hope you had a blast of a time in sunny Penang!!
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Yes, those wok skills are hard to master, but it looks like you did it quite well! You are a wok pro Miss Rasa Malaysia!
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Yeah, the bicarb is usually used for beef to tenderise it.
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Love this combo of yours!
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Yummy! But has anyone tried the Puter Nasi kandar restaurant in Perth which is said to be owned by PM Abdullah’s brother Ibrahim and a Chinese man? If true, what a story - Ali-Baba in Australia but Ali running the show! Only thing bothering me about this story is why would Abdullah’s brother want to work to Australia? Something wrong there.
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sounds delish …. infuse of ginger in the sauce and chicken….crunchy scallion……my… i miss it liao…indeed i have used some roasted pork and even chicken char siew with this style…
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Could you find a recipe more simple and more delicious than this one? I don’t think so!!! Asian food is so full of tastes and colors… All your recipes are the best examples.
Can’t wait for the next recipe!!!
Friendly,
Alexandra
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Mine is usually done bone in. That flour tip works well with pork too.
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slurp slurp.. the meat look so juicy
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Yeah, the flour tip is cool. Allan always does that with his Kung Pao Cashew chicken. ;-) His signature dish! :-)
Restaurant can go overboard with baking soda though. The prawns get really crunchy but they lose their sweetness and so does chicken. I prefer to use timing to keep chicken tender, which means you take the chook off the heat and let residual heat cook it through. I just had dinner and I’m hungry again. ;-)
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That’s also my homey meal ler! Dining in your home is like dining in high-class restaurant :)
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That’s one simple yet delicious dish. I don’t know we should use the starch to marinate the chicken. I should try it next time. Thanks for the tips!:)
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That looks amazing! I think I’ll be adding scallions to my shopping list this week :-)
My mother (I’m half Chinese/Malay) swears by baking soda when she makes beef in oyster sauce - it really does make meat very tender.
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Cornstarch and arrowroot powder are culinary necessities in Chinese cooking. They add the essential nuo mouth-feel to the food. Nuo is that sticky, starchy feel commonly associated with glutinous rice, and is considered one of the three ultimate textures in Chinese cuisine.
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That dish is certainly restaurant quality.
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That dish looks ever so fresh and tasty! I love those beautiful colors…
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Ahh… so that’s the secret — marinating the chicken first! I have always just fried them as is. Now you tell me, it’s marinate first and with potato flour at that.
Maybe now my family won’t complain so much when I cook this (I’m the only who likes chicken breast; they find it too dry and prefer drumsticks/wings).
Danke!Q :)
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Babe - exactly, it’s very versatile!
Pablo - Thanks! The secret to great pictures is natural light…as to presentations, I only use white plants. ;)
Susan - yes, they also call scallions spring onions…correct? :)
TruebluePenangite - yes, I have a great time in Penang. Have fun cooking.
PE - not really…there was no wok hei in my dish because smoke alarm didn’t go off this time!
Boo - yes.
WMW - Thanks.
Yummy - oooh you have inside scoops…
Foodcrazee - anything also can…as long as it fits your needs. ;)
Miss Tiny - thank you thank you. :)
Tummythoz - consider myself Americanized now…meat is always deboned and no skin now. :P
Teckiee - yes, just use some potato flour or corn flour and you will have juicy meat.
Allan and Nigel - I agree, the prawns in restaurants are all tasteless but great texture!
Tiga - when are you coming to my house? ;)
Kok - yes, let me know how it goes.
Missyz - I have yet to use baking soda to marinate meat, must try now.
CP - hear hear. ;)
Nate 2.0 - thank you. Now you can make it at home.
Rosa - green, yellow, white and creamy meat color…yes, very nice.
Kenny - yeah, try the marinate the meat in the future.
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RM,what a coincidence! I made the almost similar dish on Thursday for dinner but could not post cos my hosting is down! ha ha ha! great minds think alike! I used chicken pieces, spring onions and young ginger slices blah blah blah ….
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looks great, bee! love the simplicity of this dish, and allergy-free too!
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wow thanks. i love quick and easy meals. well you said not easy but quick. :) i’ll give it a try. :D
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one of my fav dish!
reminds me that i have not had this for some time.
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i know exactly what you mean about ginger infused wok-hei flavors. theres a place in chinatown that has a ginger fried rice that is so simple to look at but the ginger and green onion flavors are out of this world! i;ve never tried to recreate it at home…this looks so wonderful! Droooool!
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Un très beau site de belles recettes..!
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Audrey - please post your photos and recipe ASAP…I would love to compare notes. ;)
Stef - yes, I think this is a very “safe” dish, that is, almost everyone can eat this. :)
Budding Cook - yes, please try the recipe and let me know how it goes.
Aria - exactly. There is one Chinese restaurant here that serves great “ginger and scallion fill-in-your-blank” with killer wok-hei…yum. It’s really hard to get that kind of wok hei at home.
Nini - merci! :)
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*saliva dripping* my tummy is making noise now :s
Btw, I love the way u take picture :D
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Mon c’est trop beau !!! God, it too nice !!! your pictures are just fantastic…for a so “simple” recipe… I love it !
Cheers
Claude
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Jessie - thanks. You are too sweet. :)
Claude - Merci! :)
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lovely pictures!
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Thanks for the tip about the baking soda, I didn’t know about it… I’ll try it next time I use both chicken and my wok.
Your pictures are beautiful, as always…
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Allo… I am catching up on your older posts. (Cos I have been busy searching for baby stuff after I got back from SG)
Qn:Is your wok a non-stick teflon wok?
Mine is, and I am afraid to heat it up too hot (until smoking) cos I thought that would destroy the teflon coating. Any comments?
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emmm, this dish looks clinical altho i can sense its appeal! i always though chicken with bone churn out a better dish, instead of fillets etc.
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i love this recipe, using fish… one of my ‘must order’s when i go out to eat.. i tried replicating this dish at home, but my fish turned flaky, and mush. anything wrong with what i’m doing? i htink the fish i’m using is basa freshwater fish.
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We always order ginger and scallion chicken from the chinese restaurants. Maybe I should use your ginger and scallions chicken recipe and make them myself. ;)
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Im a fan of this recipe.Ive eaten it in many places back at kl & penang and all of them tasted good.The BEST is at jaya jusco prai penang at the food court.There's only 1 spot where they sell on the spot chinese dishes with rice.Awesome!
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