Chicken with bamboo shoots and mushrooms is one of the most popular dishes in Chinese restaurants in Italy and beyond. Unlike other dishes such as Cantonese rice or fried ice cream, which are adapted to European and American tastes, this is truly a dish of Chinese origin.
It is very simple and quick to prepare and can easily serve as a single dish, especially if accompanied by a bowl of steamed rice. Most of the ingredients are fairly easy to find, except perhaps the bamboo shoots which are mostly found in physical Asian stores or online.
What ingredients are suitable?
- Straw Mushrooms: they are very similar to champignon mushrooms and are found in cans, preserved in salted water. They are my favorites for this dish. They also go well with soups and sauteed vegetable dishes.
- Dried Chinese black mushrooms: alternatively you can use this type of mushrooms, after having soaked them in water for at least half an hour. They are also called Judah’s ears and are a little easier to find than the former.
- Fresh or Frozen Champignon Mushrooms: even classic button mushrooms can do just fine. So if you can’t find the previous ones and still want to try the dish, you can use these ones.
- Preserved bamboo shoots: very good those of AROY-D, which can be found sliced (the most suitable format for this dish), or even in strips.
Chicken with bamboo shoots and mushrooms
Ingredients (4 people)
- 500g chicken breast
- 400g tin of mushrooms in salted water (or a handful of dried black Chinese mushrooms)
- 500g tin of bamboo shoots
- 400ml vegetable (or chicken) broth
- 1 tablespoon of potato starch (or corn starch)
- Flour for flour the chicken
- 2 tablespoons of seed oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 30ml soy sauce
- Salt
Directions:
- Start by heating the oil in a pan with the garlic cloves, so that they become golden and flavor the oil well.
- Meanwhile, cut the chicken into strips and then lightly flour it, shake it well before putting it in the pan, so that not too much flour remains attached. This step is not essential, in the sense that even with non-floured chicken the result is excellent.
- Then remove the garlic and then brown the chicken in a pan, until it is no longer pink on the outside. It will take 2-3 minutes.
- Then add the sliced mushrooms, or soaked in water and drained, if you used the dry ones.
- Put them in the pan for another couple of minutes and then add the bamboo shoots, after having drained and rinsed them well under running water.
- Then add the broth and the soy sauce in which you have mixed a tablespoon of potato starch. You have to mix the starch well in a little soy sauce, before adding it to the pan so that no lumps form.
- Cook over medium heat for another 8-10 minutes, the sauce should become slightly thick, without evaporating too much, so that a little sauce remains when serving the dish.
- Serve hot, alone or together with a bowl of steamed rice, to create an excellent single dish.
