Chicken with Straw Mushrooms (Chinese Takeaway Style)

Make a Chinese restaurant and takeaway retro classic with this deliciously savoury chicken with straw mushrooms recipe. Packed with vegetables, it’s perfect with egg fried rice and prawn crackers.

---

This Scottish Chinese takeaway style chicken with straw mushrooms recipe recreates a retro favourite Chinese takeaway dish at home. Tender chicken, straw mushrooms, baby corn and a savoury sauce combine to make a tasty stir fry that’s so quick and easy.

Ingredients For Chinese Takeaway Style Chicken With Straw Mushrooms

This Chinese takeaway style chicken with straw mushrooms recipe uses tinned straw mushrooms, with a familiar combination of stir fry sauce ingredients including oyster sauce, soy sauce and MSG. Tender chicken is stir fried with onion, carrot, baby corn and straw mushrooms and sizzled together to create a deliciously savoury Chinese takeaway style dish.

• Oyster Sauce
• Light Soy Sauce
• Dark Soy Sauce
• Tomato Ketchup
• White Pepper
• Sunflower Oil
• Onion
• Carrot
• Baby Sweetcorn
• Tinned Straw Mushrooms
• Chicken For Chinese Takeaway Style Stir Fry Dishes
• Sea Salt
• MSG
• Chopped Garlic In Oil
• Light Chicken Stock
• Potato Starch
• Spring Onion
• Rice Wine

Cook Like a Takeaway: Want to see the exact oyster sauce, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine I use in all my Chinese recipes? Check out my Chinese Takeaway Style Cooking Essentials guide.

How To Make Chinese Takeaway Style Chicken With Straw Mushrooms

Making this Scottish Chinese takeaway style chicken with straw mushrooms is so quick and easy! First, onion, carrot, baby corn and straw mushrooms are stir fried in a hot wok, along with chicken, sea salt, MSG and chopped garlic. The prepared sauce is added and simmered with stock before being thickened slightly. Finally, spring onion and a dash of rice wine are added to finish and the dish is ready to serve.

Step 1: Sauce

In a bowl, add 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce, 1 teaspoon tomato ketchup and Pinch white pepper. Mix briefly and set aside.

Step 2: Stir Fry

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon sunflower oil and 1/2 onion, sliced and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add 1/4 carrot, thinly sliced and 3 baby sweetcorn, roughly chopped and 110 grams tinned straw mushrooms (about half a tin, rinsed & drained), halved and stir fry for 1 minute. Add 1 portion chicken for Chinese takeaway style stir fry dishes, Pinch sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon MSG and 1 generous teaspoon chopped garlic in oil and mix well. Add the prepared sauce and 200 millilitres light chicken stock. Mix well, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce reduces slightly.

Step 3: Finish

Slowly add 1 tablespoon potato starch, mixed with 2 tablespoons water, stirring well until the sauce reaches the desired consistency (you may not need all of the mix). Finish with 1 spring onion, sliced and 1 teaspoon rice wine, mix well once more and serve.

Recipe Tips For Chinese Takeaway Style Chicken With Straw Mushrooms

Tender Chicken: This recipe uses chicken for Chinese takeaway style stir fry dishes. This simple velveting technique ensures you get deliciously soft and tender chicken pieces for your favourite takeaway style dishes.

Preparation: Stir fry dishes come together quickly, so it’s good to have all the necessary ingredients and sauces prepared and to hand before you start cooking. Once you start, it’s all go until the dish is sizzling hot and ready to serve!

I hope you’ll try this Chinese takeaway style chicken with straw mushrooms recipe. If you do, let me know in the comments how it went!

---

Chinese Takeaway Style Chicken With Straw Mushrooms Recipe FAQ

What is MSG and why should I use it?

MSG is monosodium glutamate, a seasoning ingredient widely used in Chinese takeaway kitchens, in pure form or as an ingredient in soy sauces and other seasoning sauces. Despite historic baseless claims of its dangers, it has been widely proven to be considered safe for use in cooking. In fact, many of the myths and lies about MSG were deliberately and maliciously spread as a form of racism. You can find MSG naturally in many foodstuffs including broccoli, cheese and tomatoes. It’s available online or in Chinese supermarkets. You can learn more about MSG from the brilliant Chin Taylor of Ziang’s Kitchen here.

Do I need a carbon steel wok to cook Chinese takeaway style dishes?

A well seasoned carbon steel wok is a wonderful addition to your Chinese takeaway style cooking equipment, and I would highly recommend investing in one. But, you can cook this dish in any wok or large frying pan and it will be delicious!

Can I use cornflour instead of potato starch?

Yes, you can use cornflour and water to thicken the simmering stir fry sauce. It will do a similar job, however a more consistent texture is achieved using potato starch.

Can I use beef / char siu pork / king prawns / vegetables instead?

Yes! This recipe also works well with beef, char siu pork, king prawns or mixed vegetables.

What’s the difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce?

In Chinese takeaway kitchens, chefs use light soy sauce mainly for seasoning – it’s thinner and more salty than dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce has a thicker consistency and is used to add colour to stir fry sauces and egg fried rice.

---

Do you like this Chinese takeaway style chicken with straw mushrooms recipe? If so, buying a copy of my book might appeal to you! In The Chinese Takeaway Secret you can find a host of restaurant and takeaway style recipes that you can make at home. You’ll learn how to make Glasgow Chinese takeaway style salt and chilli king prawns, beef satay skewers, chicken fried rice, char siu chow mein and more! You can buy The Chinese Takeaway Secret in paperback or kindle form here.

You might like this…