Cook’s notes

No, it’s not chop suey

Chop suey can be cooked with any meat and combination of vegetables, or even with no meat at all. For the dish to be moo goo gai pan, two ingredients are a must: chicken and mushrooms.

Moo goo gai pan meaning and origin of name

The name of the dish, after all, is merely an American transliteration of the name of an old Chinese dish from which it was adapted.

Button or oyster mushrooms?

While some American bloggers say that “moo goo” translates to button mushroom, its etymology shows that mógu, the Chinese word from which it was derived, simply means mushroom. Interestingly, a New York blogger who is originally from Beijing wrote that in northern China, the ancestor of moo goo gai pan is cooked with oyster mushrooms.

Which of the three should be my peg? The dictionary, the chorus of American bloggers or one Chinese blogger who has transplanted herself to America? Well, let’s see… Shiitake has better flavor than both button and oyster mushrooms, and the color makes the dish more visually appealing. Why not shiitake, right?

If using rehydrated shiitake, you may combine the soaking water with chicken stock for the sauce.

Final tips

Velveting the chicken, especially when using breast meat, is an integral part of the preparation.

This is a stir fry and that means longer prep time than cooking time. Have all the ingredients ready before you begin cooking.

This is a stir fry and that means you need cooking oil with a high smoking point. My first choice is peanut oil or, when it’s not available, vegetable oil.

This is a stir fry and that means keep the heat on HIGH from start to finish.

Moo goo gai pan (chicken and mushroom stir fry)

Prep: 10

Cook: 5

Total: 15

Servings: 2 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian fusion

Label: Chicken fillet, Stir fry

Print recipe Subscribe

Ingredients

Chicken

1 large chicken breast fillet about 300 grams / 10.5 oz. (note that one breast fillet is one-half of a whole breast)
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons Shao Xing rice wine

Mushroom and vegetables

10 snow peas
1 small carrot
3 shiitake mushrooms caps only

Sauce

¾ cup chicken stock
2½ tablespoons oyster sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
2½ teaspoons cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon sesame seed oil

Others

salt if the chicken stock is unseasoned or underseasoned
2 tablespoons peanut oil or any oil with a high smoking point

Instructions

Velvet the chicken

Pat the chicken breast fillet dry, cut into three portions lengthwise then cut each portion into thin slices.
Place the chicken slices in a bowl, add the salt, garlic, corn starch and Shao Xing rice wine. Mix well and set aside.

Prep the mushrooms and vegetables

Trim the snow peas by pinching off the tops and pulling off the fibrous string that runs along the sides.
Peel and thinly slice the carrot.
Thinly slice the shiitake.

Mix the sauce

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the chicken stock, oyster sauce and sugar until homogenous in color and the sugar is fully dissolved. Taste and add salt, if needed, to get a good balance.
Stir in the cornstarch and sesame seed oil.

Stir fry the moo goo gai pan

Pour the peanut oil into a heated wok and swirl to allow the oil to coat the sides of the pan as well.
Stir the chicken to separate then spread on the hot oil in a single layer.
Leave for half a minute then flip and cook for another 15 seconds.
Add the carrot slices and stir fry for about half a minute.
Add the snow peas and sliced shiitake, and stir fry for half a minute.
Stir the sauce to loosen any starch that has settled in the bottom of the bowl.
Pour the sauce over the chicken, mushrooms and vegetables.
Cook, stirring a few times, until the sauce is thick and no longer appears cloudy.
Serve immediately. Best with rice.