Chicken and Mushroom Noodles (蘑菇雞撈麵, Mo4 Gu1 Gai1 Lou1 Min6)

Whenever I have leftover chicken, I always find a way to use the chicken in a noodle dish with my favorite sauce to use with the noodles: oyster sauce. There’s just something I find particularly appealing about the combination of those ingredients. Here are some chicken recipes that can be used to supply the leftovers: Mom’s Grilled Soy Sauce Chicken (燒烤豉油雞, Siu¹ Haau¹ Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹), Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鷄, Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹), Grilled Chili Sauce Chicken (燒烤鮮辣椒鷄, Siu¹ Haau¹ Sin¹ Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Gai¹), Grilled Ginger Peach Chicken (燒烤薑桃子雞, Siu¹ Haau¹ Goeng¹ Tou⁴ Zi² Gai¹), Grilled Guinness Chicken, Grilled Garam Masala Chicken.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Leftover chicken thigh or breast meat (雞肉, gai1 juk6), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
12	12	Button mushrooms (蘑菇, mo4 gu1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 lb.	500 g.	Chow mein noodles (炒麵, caau2 min6)
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Oyster sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

 

Equipment

14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the already cooked chicken thigh or breast meat by cutting into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. Here are some chicken recipes that can be used to supply the leftovers: Mom’s Grilled Soy Sauce Chicken (燒烤豉油雞, Siu¹ Haau¹ Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹), Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鷄, Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹), Grilled Chili Sauce Chicken (燒烤鮮辣椒鷄, Siu¹ Haau¹ Sin¹ Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Gai¹), Grilled Ginger Peach Chicken (燒烤薑桃子雞, Siu¹ Haau¹ Goeng¹ Tou⁴ Zi² Gai¹), Grilled Guinness Chicken, Grilled Garam Masala Chicken.
2. Clean and cut the button mushrooms into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
3. Wash and cut the green onions into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces.
4. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
5. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the oyster sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package and until the noodles are al dente. Drain the noodles and set aside. If ready-made or fresh noodles are used, “fluff” the noodles to separate them (i.e. you don’t want put a single mass of noodles into the wok).
2. Heat a wok or pan over high heat and before adding oil. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant before adding more oil and then the chicken pieces to the wok. Since the chicken is already cooked, you’re just warming up the chicken. Set the chicken aside in a bowl.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the button mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then remove them to the bowl with the chicken.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the noodles. The wok should be very hot before adding the oil and then the noodles. Noodles cooked in a restaurant wok (over much higher heat than that available in your kitchen) are served slightly burned, which gives the noodles an extra added flavor.  To try to emulate slightly burned noodles, try to put the noodles in one layer in the hot wok and add a small amount of liquid (water, stock, or Shaoxing rice wine - but not too much liquid otherwise you’ll steam the noodles) to facilitate the heat transfer from the wok to the noodles, and leave the noodles alone. You want the noodles to get burned before adding more oil to the noodles and turning them over, repeating the process.
5. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the chicken back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve immediately.