Chicken
- 1 pound of uncooked chicken, cut bite sized
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (optional)
- About 1 Tablespoon of water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Noodles
- water for boiling the noodles
- 4 servings of uncooked spaghetti noodles
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
Vegetable
- about 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 16 ounces of a frozen vegetable such as broccoli, cauliflower, or green beans
Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth or water
Aromatics
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger root or about a Tablespoon grated ginger root
Mix the chicken ingredients except for the salt and refrigerate them until needed later.
Boil water for the spaghetti. Lower the heat to medium high. Add the noodles. Stir until the water is cloudy. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking, and drain when cooked. Add a Tablespoon of vegetable oil to the noodles and mix to coat them.
Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add the chicken pieces in a single layer. Stir occasionally until they are no longer pink and they are slightly browned. Add about ¼ teaspoon salt and stir. Taste it and add salt as needed. Remove the chicken.
For the sauce, mix the cornstarch and soy sauce in a bowl to avoid lumps, then mix in the chicken stock or water.
Put the heat on medium high. Add 2 Tablespoons of oil and frozen vegetables to the skillet. Stir to coat the vegetables with oil. Keep stirring every so often. When they are cooked, remove them from the pot.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the aromatic vegetables to the skillet with a little more oil if needed, and stir until mostly cooked.
Stir the sauce to remix the cornstarch, then pour it into the skillet with the aromatic vegetables. Scrape any bits off the bottom of the skillet into the sauce. Stir occasionally until the sauce is thick, then turn the heat off. Mix in the noodles to coat them with the sauce, then mix in the vegetables and chicken.
Notes:
- Putting salt on the chicken makes it taste much better. Adding the salt later keeps the chicken softer.
- The baking soda tenderizes the chicken.
- Frozen vegetables are used for convenience.
- ½ teaspoon of Better Than Bullion dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water can be used instead of chicken broth.
- The zest and juice of a half lemon and sugar to taste can be added to the sauce for a variation.
- Leftover chicken works OK too. Just warm it instead of cooking it.