Velvety Soy Chicken And Broccoli Recipe

Chicken and broccoli is a classic American Chinese food take-out staple. It's sweet, it's rich, and it's comforting. Somehow, the chicken is always extra tender and the sauce is extra luscious. Turns out the secret lies with two special ingredients ... baking soda and cornstarch. In this recipe from Leah Maroney, baking soda is added to the chicken marinade and acts as an excellent meat tenderizer. A tiny bit goes a long way in tenderizing the meat. The meat is able to be marinated for a short amount of time while achieving maximum flavor and texture. The sauce in this recipe contains cornstarch, which is added after the chicken and broccoli have been cooked. It creates the thick, velvety texture that keeps you going back for more.

Maroney recommends using a wok on high heat for the best results, but any large pan will do. The goal is to cook the meat and broccoli quickly to preserve the vegetables' crispness and color and to prevent the chicken from drying out. This simple recipe comes together very quickly. You can even shorten the marinade time! Give it at least 20 minutes and you'll be ready to stir fry. Maroney loves classic white rice with this dish. "It soaks up all the delicious sauce so not a drop is wasted," she says. But, you can't go wrong with lo mein or fried rice ... or go crazy and serve all three.

In this recipe, tender chicken breast is marinated in soy sauce, dry sherry, and baking soda. The alkaline ingredient helps to further tenderize the chicken, making it extra succulent. The sauce is made from minced ginger and garlic combined with soy sauce, oyster sauce, pepper, brown sugar, and cornstarch. The last things you'll need are vegetable and sesame oil for cooking the chicken and broccoli over high heat.

Slice the chicken breasts into thin, 1-inch pieces.

Whisk together the baking soda, ¼ cup of the soy sauce, and the dry sherry in a bowl.

Add the sliced chicken to the marinade, cover, and marinate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Whisk together the remaining ¼ cup soy sauce, ½ cup water, brown sugar, cornstarch, black pepper, oyster sauce, ginger, and garlic and set aside.

Add the sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil to a wok or large sauté pan over high heat.

Add the broccoli to the wok and sauté until the broccoli becomes bright green, about 3 minutes.

Add a few tablespoons of water, allow to absorb, and then remove the broccoli from the pan.

Add the remaining oil and the chicken (leaving the marinade behind) to the hot pan.

Cook until the chicken is browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Add the broccoli back to the pan.

Add in the prepared sauce and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.

Serve over rice and enjoy.

We love subbing the chicken breast with chicken thighs. They're less expensive and so full of flavor, and they make an exceptional swap. Cut them into thin strips for the best texture. You can also replace the chicken breast with beef stew meat cut into thin strips. The marinade tenderizes the connective tissue in the stew meat nicely without having to marinate or cook for long periods of time. Sliced pork chops or tenderloins are also a great substitution. This sauce is so versatile that it even works with stir-fried shrimp and scallops. 

If you're a vegetarian, try this sauce with additional vegetables instead of meat. Whether with carrots, water chestnuts, bell peppers, or baby corn, the vegetable possibilities are endless. We recommend the same cooking technique of sautéeing the vegetables in hot oil before adding water to finish with steaming. Then, add the sauce and let it cook down to delicious richness.

Many components of this velvety soy chicken and broccoli can be made in advance. Make the marinade and the sauce ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them (up to five days in advance). You can also marinate the chicken overnight, as well as sauté the broccoli in the oil and store it in the refrigerator until it's time to complete the dish. The entire meal can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to four days. As many of us know, dishes like these tend to get even better with time. The flavors of the sauce really incorporate into the chicken and broccoli as the dish sits, making it more delicious than ever. Simply reheat the food in a sauté pan with a little water, or heat it in the microwave until the chicken and broccoli are steaming.