Chicken and snow peas with ginger and oyster sauce

Did you know that the brand Lee Kum Kee created the first origin of oyster sauce? In the late 1800s, a chef from Nanshui, Guandong province named Lee Kum Sheung, accidentally left a pot of oyster soup boiling for too long, resulting in a thick, umami-rich sauce. This marked the birth of oyster sauce, which then spread worldwide, becoming a beloved flavour enhancer in many Asian cultures, including in this chicken and snow pea recipe.

• serves

  2

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Chinese Soul Food

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Ingredients

• vegetable oil, for cooking
• 4 slices ginger
• 250 g snow peas, trimmed and diagonally sliced
• ½ brown onion, thickly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• ½ long red chilli, sliced (optional)
• 2 tsp cornstarch mixed with ½ cup cold water

For the marinade 

• 300 g chicken thigh fillets, thickly sliced
• ¼ tsp bicarb soda
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• pinch caster sugar
• pinch white pepper
• ½ tsp potato starch

Marinating time: 10 minutes 

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the chicken with the marinade ingredients and mix well. Set aside for 10 minutes to marinate.

2. When ready to cook, heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat, then add a generous drizzle of vegetable oil. Add the marinated chicken and spread it out in a single layer over the base of the pan. Fry for about 2 minutes without stirring, until the chicken starts to brown, then toss until cooked through.

3. Remove the chicken from the pan to a bowl. Add another drizzle of vegetable oil, then add the ginger and snow peas to the pan and fry. Add the onion and garlic and fry for a further minute.

4. Return the chicken to the pan with the soy sauce, wine, oyster sauce, chilli (if using!) and a generous splash of water and toss until the snow peas are just tender. To finish, add as much of the cornstarch slurry as you need to produce a silky sauce, then serve.

Thanks to Lee Kum Kee.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Chinese Soul Food

Watch the full episode here

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Watch the full episode here

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