Moo Goo Gai Pan
This Moo Goo Gai Pan recipe tastes just like the restaurants and it’s super easy to make!
A popular dish in many Chinese restaurants, Moo Goo Gai Pan is an Americanized version of a traditional Cantonese dish. It’s a simple stir-fry dish made with sliced white button mushrooms and chicken as the main ingredients.
Moo Goo Gai Pan can include other vegetables as well! You’ll often find snow peas, carrots, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots.
Like most recipes, Moo Goo Gai Pan gets its name from the ingredients it’s made from. Moo goo meaning mushroom, gai meaning chicken and pan meaning thinly sliced.
The signature feature of this dish is its classic Chinese white sauce. The sauce is made from thickened vegetable or chicken stock that has a more mild flavour compared to other Chinese stir-fry sauces.
Other great Chinese chicken recipes include Bang Bang Chicken and Sesame Garlic Chicken.
Enough about the dish! Let’s get started on this Moo Goo Gai Pan recipe!
Moo Goo Gai Pan Recipe
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts → thinly sliced
- 1 large egg white
- 2 tbsp + 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 ½ – inch knob fresh garlic
- 2 cups of sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup of snow peas
- 1 medium carrot
- 8-ounce can of water chestnuts
- 8-ounce can of bamboo shoots
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Clean off your chicken and pat dry with some paper towel. Then slice the chicken into thin strips.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the egg white and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Add the sliced chicken in and toss them around to evenly coat with the egg mixture. Put the entire bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes, then strain the chicken and discard any excess liquid.
- Wash all your vegetables and prep them accordingly. Remember to slice off the ends of the snap peas off. Slice the carrot into thin diagonal slices.
- After prepping your vegetables, drain the canned water chestnuts and slice them thinly if they are not pre-sliced. Do the same with the canned bamboo shoots.
- Peel the cloves of garlic and knob of ginger and then mince them both finely.
- In a large saucepan, heat half the amount of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add in the sliced carrots with 1 tablespoon of water. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes stirring constantly.
- After the 2 to 3 minutes, add in the sliced mushrooms and snow peas and cook until they both become tender.
- Then stir in the water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. Season everything with salt and pepper to taste and stir-fry them for another 3 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, remove them from the pan and transfer them onto a plate. Set aside.
- To make the sauce, grab a small bowl and mix together the chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil. Once those ingredients have been mixed, add in 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Mix until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Set aside.
- Heat the remaining vegetable oil and add the chicken to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook the chicken through, stirring occasionally. After, add the minced garlic and ginger and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
- Add the vegetables back to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Before pouring the sauce in, stir well as the cornstarch may have settled at the bottom. Pour the sauce in and turn the heat to high. Bring the sauce to a boil and let it simmer until it begins to thicken. Remember to stir occasionally to evenly coat the chicken and vegetables in the sauce.
- Remove from heat once the sauce is thick and plate. It’s ready to eat!
- Moo Goo Gai Pan is best served with steamed rice. Enjoy!
