I recently discovered a Chinese grocery store in my town. I love cooking homemade Chinese food, so I just had to stop in. They had an amazing selection of dried mushrooms that I’ve seen in restaurant food but have never seen in the grocery store. The mushrooms I chose were called black mushrooms. They looked like the ones I see most often in Chinese dishes. One of my favorite dishes from my local Chinese restaurant is Chicken with Chinese Mushrooms. Its made in a deep-flavored sauce I just had to try to replicate and I have to say, I came really close! This is a fantastic recipe that is super simple and tastes amazing!
Why this recipe works:
You can’t order takeout in the amount of time it takes to make this dish! Adding the liquid from the soaked mushrooms is the perfect natural flavor addition to the sauce. The recipe uses either fresh or dried mushrooms making ingredients readily available.
Creating This Recipe
When I first created this recipe, I made it exclusively with dried Chinese Mushrooms. It tasted great, but I wanted to use ingredients that are easily found. So, I added a mixture of dried and fresh mushrooms to show that if you can’t find dried Chinese mushrooms, it’s not the end of the world. I went with dried shiitake mushrooms instead of actual Chinese mushrooms because they are not only easy to find, but they are absolutely delicious and fit the bill wonderfully. I chose to let you choose the cut of chicken you like best. I chose thighs because I feel dark meat chicken is more flavorful, but white meat is preferred by many. It’s your choice.
I have to admit that dried, these mushrooms don’t look too appetizing. Believe me, once they are re-hydrated they are packed with flavor and become the star of the dish!
How to Make Chicken with Chinese Mushrooms:
In a small bowl, soak the mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes or until they become tender.
Once re-hydrated, Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon and squeeze out any excess liquid. Reserve 1?4 cup of the liquid and set aside. This makes is the mushroom stock. Heat a wok over medium-high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the heated wok and add the garlic.
Followed by the ginger.
Stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the chicken. Stir-fry until the pink on the outside is no longer visible.
Add the fresh mushrooms. Cook until tender and the liquid they release cooks down. Add the soaked mushrooms. Stir-fry another 2 or 3 minutes. Add the oyster sauce, dark and light soy sauce.
Add the rice wine.
Add cornstarch mixed with water to thicken. Bring to a boil and stir-fry until the mushrooms are coated and the sauce has thickened (another 2 or 3 minutes). Add the green onions. Stir together with the chicken, mushrooms, and thick luscious sauce. Serve and enjoy every last bite!
Cook’s Tips:
Make this a pantry dish:
Buy extra dried mushrooms and keep them in your pantry along with fresh garlic, ginger and shallots (they don’t need to be refrigerated) and this dish can be made anytime as a meat-free stir-fry. Just use the shallots instead of green onion and add them at the same time as the garlic and ginger. Update Notes: This post was originally published in June of 2014, but was republished with tips, step by step photos, a recipe change, and video in August of 2018. Erren’s Kitchen is written and produced for informational intentions only. We are not certified nutritionists, and the nutritional information found on this site has not been assessed or authorized by a nutritionist or the FDA. The nutritional information found in our recipes is offered as an estimate and should not be considered a guarantee or fact. The estimated data is provided as a courtesy and calculated through a third-party online nutritional calculator, spoonacular API. Although we do our best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered rough estimates. Many factors, such as brands or products purchased and the nutritional fluctuations that naturally occur in fresh produce, can alter the effectiveness of the nutritional information in any recipe. Furthermore, various online calculators provide different results depending on their particular algorithms and nutrition fact sources. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
