Guyanese Style Chicken Chow Mein is a delicious fusion of Chinese and Caribbean flavors; tender marinated chicken tossed with fresh veggies, chewy noodles, and a savory sauce. This well-balanced meal comes together in just 40 minutes, for a deliciously satisfying dinner.
1cuppetite green beanscut Into 2 Inch pieces (substitute for chinese long bean (bora) If available
4baby bell peppers
To season the chicken
1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespooncassareep or soy saucemay substitute with coconut aminos for a soy and sugar free option
3 clovesgarlicgrated
1teaspoonbrown sugarskip if using coconut aminos
2teaspoonsof onion powder
1teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonbrown mustard
1/4teaspoonblack pepper
1teaspoonChinese 5 spice
1tablespoonketchup
Optional Finishing Sauce
1/2cupcoconut aminos garlic sauceother Chinese garlic sauce
1teaspoonred pepper flakes
1 tablespoonsesame oil
Instructions
Cook the noodles
Follow the instructions on the packet to cook the noodles, then drain and set aside. For best results try to cook your noodles so that they are finished cooking just when it is time to add them to the other ingredients
Season the Chicken
Cut chicken into 1 inch chunks. Then seasonwith thyme, cassareep or soy sauce, grated garlic, brown sugar (or coconut aminos), salt, mustard, black pepper, Chinese 5 spice and ketchup.
Set aside and let marinate while you are prepping your vegetables.
Cook the Chicken
Add oil to a large skillet or wok on medium heat. When oil comes up to temperature add onions and cook until onions are translucent and soft. Then increase the heat to high.
Next, add seasoned chicken and sauté until chicken is fully cooked, stirring once or twice to ensure it doesn’t burn. If you are using bone in chicken, you can reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and let the chicken cook for 10-15 minutes.
Add the vegetables: Two Options
Add the vegetables (except for the pepper, green onions and cabbage) to the cooked chicken and cook for another 5 minutes, constantly tossing for even cooking
Then add the peppers, granulated garlic, pinch of salt and remaining Chinese Five Spice and sauté for 2-3 minutes, then add the green onions and the cabbage.
or
Remove the meat from the pan and place in a clean bowl, then add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan.
Next add the vegetables (except for thepepper, green onions and cabbage) and sauté on high heat for 3-5.
Then add the peppers, granulated garlic, pinch of salt and remaining Chinese Five Spice and sauté for 2-3 minutes, then add the green onions and the cabbage.
Next add the chicken to the sautéed vegetables
Add the noodles
Add the cooked noodles to the sautéed chicken and vegetables and stir-fry for a few minutes on high heat, mixing together well.
For the finishing sauce
Combine all the ingredients for the sauce, then drizzle over individual portions of chow mein as you serve them.
Serve your chow mein hot and enjoy!
Notes
The key to good chow mein is to have a bit of sauce in the cooked meat and vegetables so that once you add the noodles, it soaks all that goodness up.
You could substitute the protein in this dish for any protein of choice or eliminate it altogether
It takes about 30 minutes to cook this dish if you have good time management. Cut up the chicken first, season, and set aside, put noodles on to boil, while the noodles are cooking prep veggies.
After writing this post, I wanted to go make some more chow mein. I seriously love this stuff.
CASSAREEP is a Guyanese dark sauce (similar to soy sauce) made from cassava/yuca juice. It’s traditionally made by the indigenous peoples (Amerindians) of Guyana and makes stews and almost any dish you would add soy sauce to, taste amazing.