Hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to deconstructing Americanized Chinese cuisine with a shot at the PF Chang’s dish known as “Ginger Chicken with Broccoli.” For those new to the channel, in this series, we have been deconstructing iconically Americanized dishes from Chinese cuisine, and seeing what it might look like if we were to cook the dish through the lens of more traditional Chinese wok cooking. Ginger chicken is not a complicated concept, it’s basically a stir fry with ginger, chicken, and…broccoli…pretty straightforward enough. What does jump off the page from their menu description however, is that the dish specifically calls for STEAMED broccoli. 

Broccoli of course, being a very dense and durable veggie, is commonly par-cooked with a quick blanch or steam to tenderize it before it goes into the pan, resulting in a more tender piece of broccoli to pair with your chicken. My personal favorite way of stir frying broccoli however, is to slice it into longer, thinner spears (replicating the shape and size of CHINESE broccoli, or gailan), which is a little bit more friendly in flash cooks and stir fries. So! Today I thought we’d do something a little bit different, and instead of trying to come up with a “better” version of ginger chicken, what we’re gonna do instead is cook the exact same dish with the exact same ingredients, but using two wildly different approaches to wok cooking, one using steamed broccoli florets, and a second approach using flash fried broccoli spears. The result I hope should be an interesting dive into…how to cook broccoli…! Hope you try it.

 

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 3 green onions

  • 2 medium chicken thighs

  • 1 head broccoli

  • corn starch slurry (2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in water)

  • peanut oil

INGREDIENTS (marinade)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1/2 tsp white pepper

  • 1/2 tsp corn starch

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 2 tbsp hoisin sauce

  • 1 tbsp doubanjiang

PREP

  • CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside

  • FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside

  • SEPARATE the whites and greens of the green onions, then slice thinly, set aside

  • SLICE the chicken into half inch pieces, then combine with marinade ingredients and let marinate for 30 minutes

  • COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside

ON THE STOVE (steamed version)

  • SLICE the broccoli into short and wide florets, set aside

  • HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 2 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the broccoli and saute for 1-2 minutes

  • ADD 1/4 cup water, cover, and steam for 3-5 minutes until fork tender, then remove, reheat, add an additional 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the chicken to the wok evenly across the wok surface, then sear for 2.5 minutes undisturbed

  • TOSS the wok and tilt toward the open flame to ignite for wok hei, then remove 

  • DEGLAZE the remaining fond with the sauce mixture plus 1/4 cup water, then let reduce for 1-2 minutes, and remove

  • REHEAT the wok as hot as possible, add an additional 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the garlic, ginger, and whites of the green onions, then saute for 15 seconds until fragrant

  • ADD the chicken, broccoli, and sauce back to the wok, and toss to combine

  • ADD the corn starch slurry to the wok and toss until a thick sauce forms

  • FINISH with reserved greens of green onions

ON THE STOVE (flash fried version)

  • SLICE the broccoli into long/thin spears, set aside

  • HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the chicken to the wok evenly across the wok surface, then sear for 2.5 minutes undisturbed

  • TOSS the wok and tilt toward the open flame to ignite for wok hei 

  • SHIFT the chicken to one side of the wok, then add the garlic, ginger and whites of green onions, making contact with the wok surface

  • SAUTE for 15 seconds until fragrant, then toss to combine and remove

  • REHEAT the wok as hot as possible, add an additional 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the broccoli and saute for 1-2 minutes

  • ADD the chicken and sauce back to the wok, and toss to combine

  • ADD the corn starch slurry to the wok and toss until a thick sauce forms

  • FINISH with reserved greens of green onions

 

tagged with pf changs, p.f. chang's, ginger chicken with broccoli, broccoli stir fry, veggie stir fry, wok cooking, chinese cooking, chinese food,woo can cook, chinese recipe, pf changs recipe