Stir-Fried Chicken With Mushrooms and Oyster Sauce Recipe

This quick, simple stir-fry features fresh and dried mushrooms for maximum flavor and chicken that's been velveted—an easy technique that guarantees tender meat.

Shao Z.

Updated August 04, 2023

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Stir-fried chicken with mushrooms and oyster sauce, served in an oblong white bowl. — Serious Eats / Shao Z.

Why It Works

Marinating the chicken strips in a mixture of cornstarch, egg white, wine, and seasonings—a process known as velveting—guarantees silky, tender meat.
Par-cooking the meat in a bath of boiling water with just a little oil is much easier for home cooks than the more traditional hot-oil-bath method, with equally good results.

If you've been reading our water-velveting series, then you already know that it's an excellent home-cook technique for ensuring that meats stay extremely tender in stir-fries. Unlike the more traditional method that involves cooking the meat in a hot-oil bath, water-velveted meat uses boiling water with just a little bit of oil added to it. Otherwise, the velveting process is exactly the same, with the meat first marinated in a mixture of cornstarch, egg white, and seasonings.

Today's recipe features strips of chicken stir-fried with a mixture of fresh and dried mushrooms, along with a sauce made from soy and oyster sauces. The crunchy bite of the rehydrated dried wood ear mushrooms, which you can find in most Asian markets, adds a nice texture to the dish. (They are great in other stir-fries as well and also in these delicious pan-fried vegetable dumplings.) When using oyster sauce, a little goes a long way, so be careful not to pour out too much at once.

I start by marinating the chicken strips in the velveting mixture (a combination of cornstarch, egg white, rice wine, and seasonings) for 30 minutes.

Water and a small amount of oil is brought to a boil in a wok. — Serious Eats / Shao Z.

Then I get the water boiling in the wok, and drizzle a small amount of oil on top. The chicken takes a quick spin in the boiling water, just long enough to turn the exterior opaque while leaving it still raw inside, about 40 seconds. I drain it and give the chicken a good shake so that it isn't too wet the next time it goes into the wok for stir-frying.

Then I wipe out the wok, and stir-fry the fresh mushrooms in it first until they release their water.

Rehydrated wood ear mushrooms are added to the fresh mushrooms in the wok. — Serious Eats / Shao Z.

I follow that with the rehydrated wood ear mushrooms, and cook all the mushrooms until their excess water is gone and they're starting to brown. Once they're ready I transfer them to a plate.

The water-velveted chicken is stir-fried in the wok. — Serious Eats / Shao Z.

I add a little more oil to the wok, then stir-fry the chicken next. Working in batches like this with wok stir-fries is important since home burners don't put out enough heat to properly stir-fry all of the ingredients at once.

Then I add the mushrooms back in, toss them to combine, and add the sauce. I keep cooking, tossing and stirring, until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken and mushrooms. Then it's ready to serve.

July 2014

Recipe Details

Stir-Fried Chicken With Mushrooms and Oyster Sauce Recipe

Prep 5 mins

Cook 30 mins

Active 20 mins

Marinating Time 30 mins

Total 65 mins

Serves 2 servings

Ingredients

For the Velveted Chicken:

1 tablespoon egg white (see note)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or sake
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 pound chicken breast, sliced 1/8 inch thick
6 cups water
1 teaspoon vegetable, canola, or peanut oil

For the Sauce and Stir-Fry:

1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 medium clove garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons vegetable, canola, or peanut oil, divided
1/2 pound mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, shiitake, enoki, and/or oyster, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup dried wood ear mushroom, rehydrated in warm water for 15 minutes, then drained and large pieces halved (see note)
Cooked white rice, for serving

Directions

For the Velveted Chicken: In a small bowl, thoroughly combine egg white, cornstarch, rice wine, and salt. Place chicken in a bowl and add cornstarch mixture, tossing to combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Serious Eats / Shao Z.
Fill a wok with water and bring to a boil, then add oil. Add chicken and, separating pieces with chopsticks or a spatula, cook until chicken is white outside but still raw within, about 40 seconds. Drain chicken in a colander and shake off excess water. Wipe wok clean and dry.
Serious Eats / Shao Z.
For Sauce and Stir-Fry: In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch, sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and water.
Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in wok over high heat until smoking. Add fresh mixed mushrooms and season with salt. Cook, stirring and tossing, until mushrooms have released their water, about 3 minutes. Add rehydrated wood ear mushrooms and cook until mushrooms begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer mushroom to a plate and wipe out wok.
Serious Eats / Shao Z.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in wok over high heat until smoking. Add chicken and stir-fry until chicken is almost cooked through, about 2 minutes. Return mushrooms to wok and stir to combine with chicken. Stir sauce add to the wok, tossing, until sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Transfer to a platter and serve with white rice.
Serious Eats / Shao Z.

Special Equipment

Wok

Notes

To make egg white easy to measure, beat it with a fork until it has a thinner viscosity.

Dried wood ear mushrooms can be found in most Asian markets.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
418	Calories
23g	Fat
13g	Carbs
40g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories	418
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 23g	29%
Saturated Fat 4g	21%
Cholesterol 96mg	32%
Sodium 600mg	26%
Total Carbohydrate 13g	5%
Dietary Fiber 2g	6%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 40g
Vitamin C 3mg	15%
Calcium 49mg	4%
Iron 2mg	11%
Potassium 716mg	15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.