Chinese Chicken and Mushroom

It is a cozy rainy weekend in LA, so I made a quick and easy dish to go with the weather. This is my mom’s Chinese chicken and mushroom. It is such an easy dish that you can throw together on a weekday or weekend. It has chicken thighs sautéed with mushrooms, oyster sauce, and a little bit of sesame oil for that extra kick of flavor. And the best part is this dish comes together in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

• Chicken thighs – I used chicken thighs because I like how juicy thighs are, but you can use any cut of chicken for this recipe. Chicken breast is a good second option.
• Sugar and salt for seasoning
• Corn starch – A corn starch slurry or corn starch mixed with water is gives this dish its thick, saucy texture.
• Garlic & ginger – Adds more flavor to the dish
• Shiitake mushrooms – You can use a variety of different mushrooms for this dish. I used shiitake because that’s what I had on hand. Other mushrooms you can use are cremini or button mushrooms.
• Yellow onion – I used a sweet yellow onion. A good substitute is white onion.
• Oyster sauce – Adds a nice umami flavor to this dish. A good substitute for oyster sauce is dark soy sauce or regular soy sauce.
• Sesame oil – Adds more flavor to the dish. If you don’t have sesame oil, leave it out.

Making my Chinese chicken and mushroom

First marinate the chicken in 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch, salt, and sugar for 10 minutes. Then add chicken to a pan with 1 tbsp of oil over high heat. Sear the chicken for 1 minute. Next lower the heat. Cover and let the chicken cook for 8 minutes. This allows the chicken to cook through and stay juicy. While the chicken is cooking, make your corn starch slurry. Mix the last 1 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch and water together and set aside. After the chicken has cooked for 8 minutes, increase the heat to high. Stir in the mushrooms and onion. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Add the oyster sauce and corn starch slurry. Cook for 1 minute. Add the sesame oil and mix everything together. Taste the dish for seasoning and add more salt if it tastes bland. Serve with a side of rice.

Tips on how to make the perfect Chinese chicken and mushroom

Marinate the chicken overnight for the best flavor

You can do this for 10 minutes like I mention in the recipe but for the best results, do this overnight. When the chicken marinates overnight, it allows all the flavor to sink into the chicken more thoroughly.

Cover and lower the heat in the middle to help cook the chicken

Chicken is one of those meats that is harder to cook through, so my mom lowers the heat in the middle of cooking to get it to cook throughly and stay juicy. She then cranks up the heat and uncovers it at the end to thicken the sauce.

Did you make this dish?

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