Shrimp Sauce Chicken Rice Roll Chow Fun (幼滑蝦雞炒腸粉, Jau3 Waat6 Haa1 Gai1 Caau2 Coeng4 Fan2)

Shrimp sauce is an unusual addition to a noodle dish, but I liken it to anchovy paste, which is used in many dishes to enhance flavor. Like anchovy paste, even though it is a fish/shrimp based ingredient, there’s no fishy taste once it’s cooked. Shrimp sauce is an unusual shade of purple out of the bottle, but don’t let that stop you from using it. An alternative to use, if shrimp paste is not available, is fish sauce.

Chow fun noodles should be fresh and unrefrigerated before cooking. The texture of the noodles becomes hard once refrigerated, so to keep the soft texture they should be bought and used the same day. In California, where I live, there is a law that allows chow fun noodles to be sold unrefrigerated. If only refrigerated chow fun noodles are available, microwaving the noodles will soften them, but the texture will not be the same as fresh.

When you eat chow fun noodle dishes at a Chinese restaurant, you can specify (at the good restaurants) that you want the dish wet or dry. What that means is that you can specify if you want the noodles with or without gravy. With gravy (“wet”) means that the sauce will be more liquid, thickened with a corn starch slurry; without (“dry”) means that the sauce will be minimal with no thickeners. This dish is a “wet” version of chow fun. My previous recipes for chow fun are “dry” – Black Bean Chili Sauce Beef Rice Roll Chow Fun (黑豆辣椒牛肉炒粉, Hak¹ Dau⁶ Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Fan²) and Spicy Pork Rice Roll Chow Fun (辣豆辦豬肉炒粉, Laat⁶ Dau⁶ Faan⁶ Zyu¹ Juk⁶ Caau² Fan²)

Enjoy!

Ingredients

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)
1 lb.	500 g.	Fuzzy melon (節瓜, zit3 gwaa1), quartered and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
10	10	Dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated and quartered
1	1	Red bell pepper (紅椒, hung4 ziu1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) 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.	One package fresh rice roll chow fun (腸粉, coeng4 fan2), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand shrimp sauce (幼滑蝦醬, jau3 waat6 haa1 zoeng3) or equivalent
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)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
		Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
4 tsp.	20 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Lee Kum Kee Brand Shrimp Sauce
(幼滑蝦醬, jau3 waat6 haa1 zoeng3)

Preparation Instructions

1. Pour boiling water over the dried Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour.
2. 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.
3. Marinate the chicken in a covered container 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.
4. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid, remove the stems, and cut them into quarters. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process.
5. Remove the fuzz from the fuzzy melon by scraping the surface of the fuzzy melon under running water. Cut the fuzzy melon lengthwise into quarters, and then cut each quarter into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
6. Wash and cut the red bell pepper into 1- (2.5 cm.) x 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. First cut off the ends of the bell pepper, leaving an open cylinder. Remove the seeds and central core of the bell pepper and make one cut lengthwise to open the cylinder. Flatten the open bell pepper cylinder and cut 1- (2.5 cm.) x 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces.
7. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
8. Wash and cut the green onions into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces.
9. Fresh unrefrigerated rice roll chow fun should be used to make this dish. If fresh is not available, then take the rice roll chow fun from the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Cut the rice roll chow fun into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
10. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lee Kum Kee brand shrimp sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat 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. Transfer the chicken to a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer them to the bowl with the chicken.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the red bell pepper. Stir fry the bell pepper and then transfer them to the bowl with the chicken.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the fuzzy melon. Stir fry the fuzzy melon to brown them. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic become fragrant.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the rice roll chow fun. The wok should be very hot before adding the oil and then the chow fun. Chow fun cooked in a restaurant wok (over much higher heat than that available in your kitchen) are served slightly burned, which gives the chow fun an extra added flavor.  To try to emulate slightly burned chow fun, try to put the chow fun in one layer in the hot wok and add some mushroom rehydration liquid (but not too much liquid otherwise you’ll steam the chow fun) to facilitate the heat transfer from the wok to the chow fun, and leave the chow fun alone. You want the chow fun to get burned before adding more oil to the chow fun and turning them over, repeating the process.
6. 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 and some of the mushroom rehydration liquid to the wok, and stir fry the ingredients together. The amount of mushroom rehydration liquid to add is a personal preference. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve immediately.