garlic chicken stir-fry (or something like that) recipe

i got a request for the recipe for a stir-fry i made a couple weeks ago, so i figured i’d just post it here.

i actually got the recipe out of my better homes and gardens cookbook, but like i said, i was throwing this together by the seat of my pants and basically adapted the recipe to work for what i had on hand… and somehow, it worked. i’ll post the real recipe, as it’s published, along with what i did. i haven’t tried the actual recipe, so i have no idea if it’s better, worse, or even remotely comparable to what i made. all i know is that we liked my version.

• 12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (i used maybe 6 or 8 thawed chicken tenderloins from costco)
• 1 cup water (i’m not sure i actually noticed this – can’t remember)
• 3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce (mine was regular soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar or white wine vinegar (i had red wine vinegar)
• 1tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp cooking oil (i used EVOO)
• 10 green onions, bias-sliced into 1-inch pieces (i think i had 3 in the fridge, and just chopped them up)
• 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (YUCK!!!)
• 12 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped (and i suppose this is why they call it GARLIC chicken stir-fry – that seems excessive to me, but what do i know. i think i had 2 cloves on hand, plus i threw in a couple good shakes of garlic powder and called it good)
• 1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts (again, YUCK!!!)
• (i also added sliced carrots, peas, and some shakes of ground ginger)
• 2 cups hot cooked white, jasmine, or basmati rice (i used brown)

1. cut chicken into 1/2 inch pieces. place chicken in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish. for marinade, stir together water, soy sauce, and vinegar. pour over chicken; seal bag. marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. drain chicken, reserving marinade. stir cornstarch into reserved marinade; set aside. (this part was all done rather frantically as i was doing step 2… i didn’t know we were having this 30 minutes ahead of time, so the marinating process was abbreviated. i missed the water part, put the soy sauce and vinegar in a bowl, which i threw the chicken pieces into as i got it cut.)
2. pour oil into a wok or large skillet. (if necessary, add more oil during cooking.) heat over medium-high heat. add green onions, mushrooms, and garlic to wok (carrots and peas); cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until tender (mine probably got cooked a little longer since i was frantically chopping chicken at the time). remove vegetables from wok.
3. add chicken to wok; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink. push chicken from center of wok. stir marinade mixture; add to center of wok. cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. (this happened almost immediately and got a little thick and gloppy… which i now see is because i was missing a whole cup of water! duh!) push chicken into center of wok. return cooked vegetables to wok. add water chestnuts (or not). cook and stir about 1 minute more or until heated through. serve with rice.

hmmm… now that i’m thinking about this, it sounds really yummy… might have to make this for dinner tonight! this time w/ the sauce made right and the chicken marinated for the right length of time!