Basil Shallot Sauce Chicken and Chinese Sausage Chow Mein (紫蘇紅蔥醬臘腸雞炒麵, Zi2 Sou1 Hung4 Cung1 Laap6 Coeng4 Gai1 Caau2 Min6)

I made this noodle dish for a Thanksgiving lunch that I was invited to. Since I wasn’t able to respond until the night before, I had to think about which dish I could make the next morning, since the dish couldn’t take too long to make and I had to use ingredients that were on hand. Fortunately I had some chicken marinating in the refrigerator, but it wasn’t enough to be the only meat ingredient in the dish. So I decided to add some Cantonese pork sausage, which adds a nice flavor to any dish. All the other ingredients needed for a noodle dish were in my pantry or in the refrigerator. The shallot sauce was a nice flavorful addition to my normal noodle dish finishing sauce.

 

The recipe has been scaled down to produce a more normal sized dish since I made a large amount of noodles for the lunch. Finally, since I was pressed for time, I didn’t get a chance to take pictures after I cooked the dish. It was only after I came back home from the lunch that I got a chance to take pictures of the cold leftovers (of which, there wasn’t much).

 

Enjoy!

Ingredients

3	3	Cantonese pork sausage (臘腸, laap6 coeng4), cut on the diagonal into thin ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces
¾ lb.	375 g.	Chicken thigh or breast meat (雞肉, gai1 juk6), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
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 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 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)
½ cup	125 ml.	Loosely packed fresh basil leaves (紫蘇, zi2 sou1) from 4-5 basil stalks
½	½	Red bell pepper (紅椒, hung4 ziu1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) strips
½	½	Green bell pepper (青椒, ceng1 ziu1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) strips
10.5 oz.	297 g.	One 20 oz. (566 g.) can bamboo shoot strips (筍, seon2), drained
1	1	Medium onion (洋蔥, joeng4 cung1), quartered
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.	Bull Head brand shallot sauce (紅蔥醬, hung4 cung1 zoeng3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Thick soy sauce (膏油醬, gou1 jau4 zeong3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 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 chicken thigh or breast meat by removing any skin or bones, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. Wet with water and add baking soda to the chicken, allow to tenderize for 15 minutes, and then wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda can be omitted but results in the tender meat experienced in restaurant dishes.
2. Marinate the chicken for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the chicken overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. 

   

   Bull Head Brand Shallot Sauce
   (紅蔥醬, hung4 cung1 zoeng3)

   Cut the Cantonese pork sausage on the diagonal into thin ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces.
4. Wash and remove the leaves from the basil stalks. The amount will vary depending upon the basil stalks, but you’ll need about ½-cup (125 ml.) or more of loosely packed basil leaves.
5. Wash and cut the ends off the red and green bell peppers, which will result in an open cylinder. Remove the seeds and make one vertical slice to open the bell pepper cylinder. Flatten and cut ½-inch (15 mm.) bell pepper strips from the cylinder.
6. Open the fried tofu package and discard any liquid.
7. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
8. Remove the tough outer skin of the onion, cut in half, and then cut each half into quarters.
9. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Bull Head brand shallot sauce or equivalent, thick soy sauce, soy sauce, hoisin 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 chicken pieces to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the chicken in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Set the chicken aside in a bowl.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Cantonese pork sausage. Stir fry the pork sausage and then remove them to the bowl with the chicken.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the onion pieces. Stir fry the onions and then remove them to the bowl with the chicken.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the ginger and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant before adding more oil and then the bell pepper pieces. Stir fry the ingredients and then remove them to the bowl with the chicken.
6. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bamboo shoot strips. Stir fry the bamboo shoots and then remove them to the bowl with the chicken.
7. 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 some liquid (water, stock, or Shaoxing 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.
8. Add the basil leaves 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 mix the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish.