Sweet and Sour Chicken with Oyster Mushrooms

Recipe:

Ingredient Notes:

• Chicken: I made this dish using boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets, and they worked beautifully. If you prefer dark meat, boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets are an excellent substitute and will add a little extra richness. Other protein options that work well include pork or beef tenderloin, or boneless turkey breast fillet.
• Mushrooms: Oyster mushrooms are fantastic for their texture and slightly sweet flavor – they’re truly stellar in this recipe! Shiitake mushrooms are also a great alternative; you can use either fresh or rehydrated dried ones. Dried shiitake will impart a deeper, more intense umami flavor to the dish. While you can use button mushrooms (champignons), they are less expressive in both texture and flavor compared to oyster or shiitake.
• Ginger and Garlic: For the best flavor and aroma, I highly recommend using fresh ginger and garlic. They don’t just add pungency; they also contribute a lovely texture. Fresh ginger, in particular, provides those wonderful little bursts of flavor. Please avoid using dried ground spices here – the fresh ingredients make a significant difference.
• Soy Sauce: Stick to standard, plain soy sauce without any added flavorings. If you’d like to give your finished dish a richer, darker color, you can add about 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce. Just be sure to reduce the amount of regular soy sauce by the same quantity to maintain the overall salt balance.
• Ketchup: Choose a good quality ketchup for this sauce, ideally one without extra seasonings like herbs or garlic already mixed in. If you enjoy a little heat, feel free to substitute regular ketchup with a spicy version – it works quite well here.
• Vinegar: Any light-colored vinegar with mild acidity will work perfectly. Good options include rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar.
• Sugar: My recipe calls for standard white granulated sugar, which is perfectly fine and provides sufficient sweetness. If you prefer using brown sugar, that will work too.
• Starch: Starch is key for thickening the sauce to that perfect consistency. Cornstarch is my top recommendation as it yields a clearer sauce. Potato starch can also be used, but it tends to make the sauce a bit cloudier. If substituting, remember this important note: you’ll typically need only half the amount of potato starch compared to cornstarch.

Let’s start cooking.

Cut the chicken into long, thin slices. Coarsely chop the oyster mushrooms. Finely chop the ginger, garlic and scallions.

For the sauce, combine the ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and cornstarch.

Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry the chicken in batches, a few minutes at a time. Transfer to a plate.

In the same manner, stir-fry the oyster mushrooms in batches for a few minutes each.

Transfer to a plate.

Add the scallions, garlic and ginger to the wok. Stir-fry for half a minute.

Add the mushrooms and chicken. Pour into the wok and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens, a few minutes.

If serving with noodles, add the noodles to the wok and stir into the sauce. If serving with rice, place the rice directly on the plate and pour the sauce over the chicken.

Enjoy!

This Sweet and Sour Chicken with Oyster Mushrooms recipe was checked, prepared and approved by Chef Tatyana Nazaruk - author of FlavorIt.com.
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