Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein

For a few years now I've been making my own teriyaki sauce. Imagine my surprise when I saw Pam from For the Love of Cooking post a recipe for teriyaki chicken by Ellie Krieger - and the sauce was pretty much exactly the same as mine! Ellie is an awesome cook/nutritionist so when I saw that her recipe mimicked my own, well I was a pretty darn proud Witch. Seeing Pam's wonderful chicken thighs reminded me of just how delicious teriyaki can be and set the wheels of creativity in motion! Thanks Pam for the inspiration!!

The teriyaki sauce in question is not a thick, syrupy sauce like many of use have had in restaurants. While I do not discount the deliciousness of those sauces, I do have to discount the corn syrup that they use. Those thick sauces tend to be too sweet for me anymore, too. The store bought teriyaki sauces don't have enough flavor for this Witch, which is why I started making my own. I add flavorful things like garlic, ginger, honey and red pepper flakes to mine, taking the once syrupy sweet sauce to a new gently sweet, tangy, flavorful delight. Oh sure, the sauce is still sweet, it is teriyaki after all. I've sweetened my sauce with a modest 1/4 c of brown sugar and a touch of honey.

After much thought I decided to make a lo mein type of dish. The little Witch LOVES anything with soy sauce in it and she likes noodles a lot too, so lo mein was a natural choice. Originally I had planned on broccoli making it into this dish as well, however the broccoli had other plans for me, like going into the compost pile rather than into the skillet. I do think that the dish needs something green, pea pods would be awesome, or the afore mentioned broccoli would have been nice too. As always feel free to add or subtract anything that you and your family likes.

I used the velveting method of marinading the chicken, as the Witch is apt to do anymore when making Asian food. It really gives great flavors to the chicken and makes it unbelievably tender. I used a bit of the teriyaki sauce in the velveting marinade which helped build the layers of flavor. The sauce was simply more of the teriyaki sauce and a bit of the pasta cooking water. A handful of cashews at the end added a bit of crunch. I still wish I had something green to add to it, but that just means that I'll have to make it again. The family hopes that I decide to do that soon!

Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein
makes 4 servings
Sauce: (Makes more than the recipe calls for, so you'll have some left over)
1/2 c soy sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T honey
1/4 c white wine (can use chicken stock)
1/4 c rice vinegar
1 t sesame oil
1 t fresh ground ginger
4 cloves garlic minced
few dashes crushed red pepper

Lo Mein
1/2 box Barilla angle hair pasta or your favorite long pasta
2 chicken breast
1 T white wine
1/2 t kosher salt
1T + 1/4 c teriyaki sauce
1 egg white
1 heaping T corn starch
3 T canola oil, divided
1 bell pepper sliced thin
1/2 onion sliced thin
1/4 c cashews

Prepare the teriyaki sauce by combining all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Stir well to dissolve. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes. Reserve and allow to cool.

Prepare chicken via the velveting method.
Slice chicken thin across the grain and place in a medium size work bowl.
Using fingers, toss chicken with salt to evenly coat.
Next add the teriyaki sauce and coat chicken.
Next coat chicken with egg white being gentle as not to froth the egg.
Next is the cornstarch, coat evenly.
Finally coat in oil and allow to marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes.

After chicken has marinated bring a pot of water to the boil. Once boiling add chicken (in 4 batches) and stir to separate. Once the outside turns white remove chicken and reserve to cook later.

Cook pasta until al dente, drain and reserve.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2T canola oil. Stir fry the peppers and onions about 2 minutes, until onions start to soften and brown. Add the reserved chicken and 2 T of the teriyaki sauce. Stir fry another 1.5 to 2 minutes longer. Add the cooked pasta along with another 2-3T of the teriyaki sauce and cook about 1 minute longer, so sauce thickens and everything is evenly coated.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Teriyaki sauce
Amount Per Serving
Calories 55.8
Total Fat 0.6 g
Saturated Fat 0.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 902.0 mg
Potassium 80.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 13.6 g
Dietary Fiber 0.2 g
Sugars 12.1 g
Protein 1.1 g

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Teriyaki chicken lo mein
Amount Per Serving
Calories 412.9
Total Fat 14.8 g
Saturated Fat 1.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3.4 g
Monounsaturated Fat 7.5 g
Cholesterol 68.4 mg
Sodium 159.6 mg
Potassium 486.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 33.9 g
Dietary Fiber 3.0 g
Sugars 1.4 g
Protein 35.8 g