Minnesota Mooshy

Monday, September 15, 2008

I picked up a supermarket rotisserie chicken on Saturday afternoon and, as is our habit, we ate half of it for dinner that evening, leaving the breast halves for another meal or two.

We would have chow mein for dinner this evening; we like it and Becky has asked me how I make it. It is embarrassingly simple to do. I sent a note to a net friend in San Diego, a transplanted St. Paulite who misses Western bottled french dressing (not available in Sandy Eggo) and what she (and I have come to join her) refers to as Minnesota Mooshy Chow Mein (also not available to her there).

You may keep your stir-fried and crispy California foo-foo vegetables; we like tender celery and onions in our stewy stuff, if you please. She replied to my note with, “Oh you are such a brat! LOL...so, what's your recipe???”

This is about the way my mom made it:

Barb’s Minnesota Mooshy Chow Mein

Serves two piggy people or four reasonable ones if you have a salad or something with it

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 or 5 ribs of celery, sliced about 1/2 thick

1/2 a white onion, cut in 1/2” pieces

2 tablespoons diced sweet red pepper

3 large white mushrooms, cut in 1/4” slices

2 cups chicken broth (homemade preferred)

sprinkle of Chinese 5-Spice powder

2 teaspoons molasses

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon or so of Kitchen Bouquet

Cornstarch and water slurry to thicken (maybe 3/4 cup water and 2 tablespoons cornstarch)

large handful fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained

1 cooked chicken breast half, cut in 1/2”-thick pieces

Crisp chow mein noodles (I like the thin ones that are labeled as rice noodles – they look like regular fried chow mein noodles but are thinner and get nicely mooshy under the mixture)

Steamed white rice

Heat oil in a large skillet (I use my 12” All-Clad sauté pan) over high heat until very hot. Dump in the celery, onion, red pepper, and mushrooms; stir-fry over high heat for maybe two minutes. Pour in chicken broth, 5-spice powder, molasses, soy sauce and Kitchen Bouquet; reduce heat, cover and simmer 5-7 minutes or so. Thicken with cornstarch slurry, boil until sauce is clear. Stir in bean sprouts and chicken pieces, cover and remove from heat. Let stand, covered, while you set the table. :-)

Serve over chow mein noodles and/or white rice.

(This was a very fine batch, Kimberly.)

Celery