Moo goo gai pan is an excellent, light Chinese dish that always includes chicken and mushrooms, plus a few other vegetables. In my quest for more Chinese recipes, I compared several to come up with the basic white sauce for this recipe. Though white sauce isn’t as versatile as brown sauce, it’s still a good recipe to have on hand for when you want something lighter in taste.
Velveting the Chicken
Start by cutting into thin slices:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
Marinate the chicken for 15-30 minutes in the following:
1 egg white
1 T. cornstarch
When the time is up, drain off the excess liquid.
Cooking the Rice
At this point, cook the rice if you are using it. I make mine in the Instant Pot: 3 c. rice, 4 1/2 c. water, 5 minutes at high pressure, and quick release.
Preparing the Vegetables
Prepare as indicated and set aside until you are ready to cook everything.
1/2 lb. mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
4 oz. carrots, sliced
1 can bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained
Others to include if you want, but I didn’t this time:
snow peas, rinsed
water chesnuts, rinsed and drained
Making the White Sauce
Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside for now:
1 c. chicken broth
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. sesame oil
1 T. cornstarch
dash white pepper
1 t. minced fresh ginger or 1/4 t. ginger powder
1 t. minced garlic or 1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 c. cooking wine (I can usually find mirin, but nothing else.)
Making the Moo Goo Gai Pan
Heat a wok until it’s very hot and stir fry the chicken until it is mostly done. Remove the chicken to a plate. Stir fry the vegetables until they are tender-crisp.
Add the chicken back in with the sauce and heat until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked through.
Serve the moo goo gai pan over rice.
Other Recipes With This Sauce
Other recipes that use this sauce: shrimp with lobster sauce, any light vegetable or seafood stir fry
