Chicken San Choi Bow Prep time 10 minutes Cook time 10 minutes Total time 20 minutes Serves 4 Ingredients
50 g vermicelli rice noodles 2 tablespoons coconut oil 6 shitake mushrooms, chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 stalks celery, finely diced ¼ tablespoon grated ginger 225 g water chestnuts, chopped 500 g cooked chicken, finely chopped in food processor 1 handful bean shoots 1 iceberg lettuce 6 spring onions, finely sliced 1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped hoisin sauce to serve Sauce 4 tablespoons oyster sauce 2 tablespoons soy sauce ½ tablespoon sesame oil 2 tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese wine 1 egg, beaten
Method
1 Soak noodles in hot water for 3–5 minutes. Rinse with cold water then drain thoroughly. 2 Heat frying pan or wok over high heat. Add oil, mushroom, garlic, celery and ginger, and cook stirring for 2 minutes. Chop drained noodles coarsely and add to pan together with water chestnuts and chicken. Cook stirring continuously for 2 minutes. 3 To make sauce, mix oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, dry sherry and egg in a small bowl. Add mixture to pan and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir through bean shoots and allow to cool a little. 4 Carefully separate the lettuce leaves, keeping them whole to form cups. Wash and shake dry. Fill lettuce cups with chicken mixture, top with spring onion and chilli, and drizzle with hoisin sauce.
TIP TO HELP SEPARATE THE LETTUCE LEAVES, REMOVE THE CORE FROM LETTUCE AND FILL THE MIDDLE WITH WATER. THE LEAVES SHOULD FALL AWAY EASILY.
My youngest son says he doesn’t like mushrooms. When I first served him San Choi Bow, he pointed at the shitake mushroom pieces and asked, ‘What is this?’ I replied, ‘Shitake.’ The absence of ‘mushroom’ made all the difference. It’s all in the delivery. I chop the mushrooms finely so they are not detectable. It’s one of his favourite meals, but I think what he likes the most is that he gets to eat with his hands. 78
Peninsula Kids – Winter 2016