Help me make this sauce....

[sandra]

My favourite Chinese restaurant in NYC has provided me with the ingredients list to my favourite chicken with broccoli as follows:

soy sauce

sugar

sesame oil

rice wine

corn starch

ginger

It consists of 2/3 shredded chicken and 1/3 broccoli florets, all enrobed in the heavy brown sauce....

I need some help in putting it together, as they did not provide measurements or method...

Thanks!

sandra

[Chef/Writer Spencer]

Put all of the ingredients together in a bowl, wisk vigorously together and set aside. Wok fried the meat and vegetables to your liking then pour a fair amount of your liquid over it. The heat will cause the cornstarch to thicken the sauce to a glaze. Continue to stir fry on a slightly lower temp to cook the cornstarch's offensive texture out and boom...it's real simple.

[sandra]

Thanks C/WS - What about the amounts, would you put equal amounts of each? I don't think so... this is what has me concerned...

They did not teach us Chinese cookery at the Cordon Bleu!!

[Stone]

soy sauce

sugar

sesame oil

rice wine

corn starch

ginger

Isn't this the recipe for just about every Chinese stir-fry?

Velvet the chicken first.

[Really Nice!]

I need some help in putting it together, as they did not provide measurements or method...

Thanks!

sandra

When I reverse engineer something like this, I develop it in small portions until I get it close, then I build from there.

With the ingredients you provided, separate them into groups of parts. I'm guessing that the soy sauce and sugar are in the same quantity, the sesame oil and rice wine are in the same quantity (but different from the soy sauce and sugar), and the corn starch and ginger are different from the others.

Start this by starting with:

4 parts soy sauce and sugar

1 part sesame oil and rice wine

1/2 part corn starch and ginger

One part can equal one teaspoon. So the 'recipe' for the above is:

4 teaspoons soy sauce

4 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon rice wine

1/2 teaspoon corn starch

1/2 teaspoon ginger

How does it taste? What flavor stands out compared to what you've experienced at the restaurant? If it stands out too much, reduce it in the next attempt. How is the consistency? Is it too thin, too thick? Adjust the corn starch.

It may take four or more attempts before you get it to taste and feel the same. Your final recipe may look something like this:

4 teaspoons soy sauce

3 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon rice wine

1 teaspoon corn starch

1 teaspoon ginger

I hope you get the idea. Oh, and apply Chef/Writer Spencer's method.

Good luck!

[Louisa Chu]

I need some help in putting it together, as they did not provide measurements or method...

Hey! That's just like Cordon Bleu!

sandra, I'm hurt. You know you could have just emailed me!

If this normally has a heavy brown sauce then I can almost guarantee you that they left out chicken broth, dark soy sauce and/or oyster sauce. Add garlic. As for the amounts, just to taste but beware the sesame oil as it can get overwhelming.

Try this. Try the velveting next time.

Boil water to blanche the broccoli then add salt. Peel the ginger. If you like eating it then julienne. If you don't then slice it for easier removal. Slice chicken. Toss with rice wine then lightly with sesame oil, sugar, pepper and salt. Toss well with most ginger - reserve some - then chill/marinate. Blanche the broccoli florets then refresh, drain and set aside. Warm the broth then make a slurry/liaison with some broth and cornstarch. Heat your pan very hot. Add oil to coat well - pour off excess - and heat hot. Add reserved ginger, peeled whole garlic, lift chicken out of marinade then add to pan. Allow to colour, toss, add broccoli, marinade, toss, add broth, slurry to thicken, season/colour with soy sauce, dark soy sauce and/or oyster sauce. Transfer to warm platter and serve.

Let me know how it goes!

[Chef/Writer Spencer]

I guess, in retrospect, I did answer that question like an arrogant chef.

[Louisa Chu]

arrogant chef.

Redundant!

[Chef/Writer Spencer]

arrogant chef.

Redundant!

We couldn't have it any other way....

[pjs]

Given your list of ingredients here's how I would do it.

The wine and most of the cornstarch is used to marinate the chicken which you then velvet and set aside.

The ginger is stir-fryed, then water is added with the soy sauce and sugar and simmered. The chicken and the previously blanched broccoli is returned to the wok. Stir in some cornstarch slurry to thicken slightly. When seconds from done drizzle on the sesame oil.

Personally I'd add some garlic with the ginger and use chicken stock instead of water.

PJ

Edited May 3, 2003 by pjs (log)

[JAZ]

This is a minor detail, but it might help you when you get to the point of "fine-tuning" your recipe. A Chinese cooking instructor I know always tells her students to use Chinese soy sauce, not Japanese, in Chinese recipes, because there are perceptible differences. And keep in mind that Chinese soy sauce comes in two varieties, light and dark, so you may have to experiment a little to find the right one (or combination).

[torakris]

Given your list of ingredients here's how I would do it.

The wine and most of the cornstarch is used to marinate the chicken which you then velvet and set aside.

The ginger is stir-fryed, then water is added with the soy sauce and sugar and simmered. The chicken and the previously blanched broccoli is returned to the wok. Stir in some cornstarch slurry to thicken slightly. When seconds from done drizzle on the sesame oil.

Personally I'd add some garlic with the ginger and use chicken stock instead of water.

PJ

this is the way I would do it too!

I just made a similar stir fry the other night, chicken marinated with rice wine and cornstarch, velveted, the ginger and garlic stir fried until fragrant, chicken and veggies tossed in, sauce added, drizzle of sesame oil if wanted and there you go!

[sandra]

Right,

Thank you all very much, I will try all of the above methods and report back with results soon...

sandra