Easy and quick chicken stir-fry recipes with bamboo shoots; two with pickled mustard greens that give a hint of sweet and sour.

½ chicken cut in pieces
3 bamboo shoots, in slices or chunks
1 tsp soy sauce
about ¼ cup ló chiu Chinese wine
3 cm piece of fresh ginger
salt
2 tsp lard

The original recipe said “a 20 cent size of ginger”

Scrape the ginger, crush it down with a heavy knife and fry it in hot lard and when slightly brown add the chicken and fry well. Then add the soy sauce, wine, bamboo shoots, and enough water to cover. Simmer gently till all is tender.

Cut off the lower quarter of the bamboo shoot as it is tough.

1lb | 450g de-boned chicken, cut to bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar
4 tablespoons of oil, separated
1 red onion, cut to 1/8″ | 5mm wedges
¼ onion, finely diced
1 pack x 8oz | 250g pickled mustard greens, chopped roughly
1 cup | 240ml of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of corn starch mixed with an equal amount of water

Trim and cut the chicken to bite sized pieces and season with the soy sauce, salt, pepper and a little sugar. Set aside to marinate.
Cut the the red onion to wedges, and finely dice the onion. Drain the bamboo shoots and roughly chop. Rinse the pickled mustard greens with cold water, drain and roughly chop.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan, on medium heat cook the onions until softened then add the bamboo shoots, the mustard greens cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add the stock, heat to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetables and liquid to a bowl.

NUTRITION ESTIMATES

1 serving (of 4): 313calories, 21.8g fat (1.8g saturated fat), 0mg cholesterol, 948mg sodium, 10.8g carbohydrates (1.6g sugars, 3.6g fiber), protein 23.2g.

½ lb | 220g chicken breast, sliced in small pieces
¼ lb | 110g bamboo shoots, peeled and sliced thin
2 spring onions, cut in l½” lengths
½ tsp flour
2 dsp lard or sung yu oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put the bamboo shoots in a small pan with enough water to cover and a pinch of salt. Cook until tender.

Mix the chicken meat with the flour. Heat lard Have the pan ready with hot lard or oil, put in the salt and pieces of spring onion and a few seconds later the chicken; fry for 2 minutes, then add the bamboo shoots and just enough of the water in which the bamboo shoots were cooked to produce a thin gravy. The chicken will be cooked in 2-3 minutes.

½ lb | 220g chicken breast
a few slices of Chinese ham, cut in thin strips (optional)
1 tsp cornflour
about ½ oz | 14g dried mushrooms
½ lb | 220g bamboo shoots
1 egg white
2 spring onions, cut in 2″ lengths
salt and pepper

Take the skin off the chicken breast and cut the meat in thin small slices, season with a little salt and pepper and put aside. Boil the bamboo shoots in a little water till tender. Cut in slices, put aside and keep the remaining water.

Soak mushrooms in a little water, discard the stems, and cut mushrooms in thin strips.

Mix the chicken meat with the raw egg white (beaten), add cornflour and mix well.

Start cooking just before serving.

Heat 1-2 tsp lard made from chicken fat. When the lard is hot put in the spring onions and fry for 30 seconds, then add the chicken, stirring and separating each piece. (The whites of the eggs will help to keep the pieces apart and the meat moist.)

When the meat is half cooked, add the mushrooms and most of the ham and cook till almost done, then add the bamboo shoots, water and bring to the boil. If the gravy is too thick, add a little more chicken stock or water or, if it is too thin blend a little more cornflour in a little cold water and add to it. Finally, add about ¼ tsp of ajinomoto (MSG). Bring to the boil, stir well, and it is ready.

Sprinkle with some strips of the ham before serving.