Chicken Stir Fry

CHICKEN UDON NOODLE STIR FRY

If your husband is anything like mine then he is happy eating tacos and bratwurst every night of the week. BORING!!  I however enjoy variety and love even more when I can create something on my own. We tend to get sort of stuck in a rut and I’m always looking to try something new. So today I thought I would try my luck at some Asian cuisine.

I started by marinating some chicken I had hanging out in my freezer just begging to be used. It was two chicken breasts. I cut them into slices then into bite size pieces. I made a simple marinade from most things I already had on hand, vegetable oil, soy sauce, garlic powder, ground ginger, pepper, brown sugar and some cilantro. I wanted to use fresh garlic but apparently the head I had in my pantry had been there a little too long and had gone bad, bummer.  Feel free to mix things up a bit or if you don’t have certain thing that’s OK use what you have on hand. I’m not the biggest cilantro fan so I’m only using a little bit. If you loath it like many people I know then you can leave it out or use some parsley.

  I’m going to let it marinade for about two hours but you could do it all day or if you don’t have much time a half hour would be just fine... it already looks delicious. 

 I found these udon noodles in the produce section at Smith's. They looked yummy so I thought I would give them a try. You could probably also use rice noodles or a long pasta. Just follow the directions on the package how to use them. However these come with a flavor packet that I use in the recipe but I'll have to experiment with out it to see what variations I come up with if you can't find these noodles.

 It’s Stir Fry time! I love this ceramic dutch oven my parents gave me last year for Christmas. For whatever reason I didn’t even start using it until just a few months ago, what was I thinking. Its awesome!

 I heated up some oil on medium high heat. Once it was hot I added the chicken that had been marinating. The brown sugar in it made it caramelize and boy did it smell delicious. At this point you could add any sort of veggie you wanted like bok choy, water chestnuts, some snow peas or maybe some cabbage.

 I chose to just run my noodles under hot water for a minute (on the back of the package it gives you directions how to use them) then once the chicken was cooked I added them to the pot. Don't worry 

they break up once they are heated through. I decided to just use one of the flavor packets that came with the noodles to see how I felt about the flavor, after all less is more and it’s easier to add things then take away. I splashed in a little more soy sauce, tossed in the  garlic powder and ground ginger and added my green onions. I tasted the noodles and decided one flavor pack was plenty since there was so much flavor from the chicken but feel free to use both packets if your little heart desires. Just make sure you taste it first, you should always always taste your food as you go. 

 Next I added a tiny bit more fresh cilantro and some slivered almonds. Now feel free to add whatever you want, let your inner Asian chef take over your body.

 Serve up and enjoy! Are you as surprised as I was at how quick and easy that was. What mom doesn't love a meal that comes together in less then 20 minutes (not including marinating time) I topped mine with a little more onions and almonds. My husband doesn’t like onions so I kept them to a minimum in the pot and made sure they were big enough that he could pick them out. I must say for just throwing it together it turned out pretty good. I definitely think I’ll be making this again.

 Even my little one enjoyed it. I think he thought the thick noodles were fun to play with. He even clapped when he was finished, OK yes so clapping is his new thing but I chose to take it as a well done mom.

 Ingredients 

2 Tbs. of Vegetable Oil

2 Packages of Udon Noodles

1 Flavor packet (this comes in the udon noodle package)

1 Tbs. of Soy Sauce

¼ tsp Ground Ginger

½ tsp Garlic Powder

1 Tbs. Fresh Cilantro

3 Green Onions

1/8-1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds

In a skillet, dutch oven or wok heat up oil on medium high heat. Strain marinated chicken with a slotted spoon, add to pot and stir fry until cooked through. Soak noodles under hot water for 1 minute or follow package instructions. Add noodles to the pot and cook until separated. Stir in the soy sauce, garlic powder, ginger and chopped green onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add chopped cilantro and almonds. Serve and enjoy. Top with more onions and almonds if desired.

Makes 2-3 servings

Marinade for the Chicken

2 Chicken Breast or 6-8 Chicken Tenders

¼ cup Vegetable Oil (or any cooking oil like canola or sesame)

1/3 cup of Soy Sauce

¼ tsp. Black Pepper

1/4 tsp. Ground Ginger

1 Tbs. Brown Sugar

½ tsp. Garlic Powder or 2 Garlic Cloves chopped

1 Tbs. Chopped Fresh Cilantro

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. In a bowl mix all of the ingredients then toss in the chicken. Stir to coat, cover and refrigerate for at least a half an hour.