RED WOK NOODLES WITH GREENS

September 21, 2025
by Cindy Williams
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- Asian Dishes
Cuisine: Chinese, Comfort Food
Difficulty: Easy

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Prep Time

1 hour including marinating time for chicken
Cook Time

20 minutes
Serving

4
View

64

This is a variation on the Red Wok noodles with velveted chicken I cook frequently. See the recipes on this site for other chow mein dishes and for the Red Wok sauce I use a lot. Last night I used the following combination of vegetables with the velveted chicken: Baby broccoli, lightly steamed before stir-frying, sliced white onion, shredded napa cabbage, scallions and sugar snap peas. The baby broccoli was in a “ready to steam” package at Dorignac’s so I gave it a light steam before I stir-fried it. Velveting the chicken by marinating it and then par-boiling it created a tender and perfectly cooked protein. The end result was fresh, green, gorgeous and delicious.

Directions

Mix the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

Step 1

Cut the chicken tenders into chunks. Marinate the chicken pieces with a little water, soy sauce, a glug of oyster sauce and cornstarch. Give it a little massage. Put in the frig for at least 1/2 hour. When you are ready to blanch the chicken, sprinkle a little more cornstarch over the chunks and massage the chicken again so that it absorbs as much liquid as possible. To pre-cook the chicken, bring a pot of water to the boil. Put the chicken in the boiling water for about 3 minutes until white on the outside with no pink on the inside. Scoop the chicken out of the water and put on a rack.

Step 2

Steam the broccoli for a few minutes in a bamboo steamer. You don't want the broccoli to get limp or overdone but you want to take the crunch off just a bit.

Step 3

Boil the chow mein noodles for no more than 3 minutes. Strain and run some cold water over the noodles. Set aside.

Step 4

When you are ready to cook: Heat some neutral oil in a hot wok until nearly smoking. Spread the noodles in the wok and cook, turning a few times, until the noodles are browned and crispy. You can pour in a little sesame oil down the sides of the wok while the noodles are cooking, but not too much as sesame oil can be overpowering. Arrange the noodles on a platter.

Step 5

Now cook the vegetables. Start with the garlic and ginger. Then, stir fry the broccoli, the cabbage, the scallions, the sugar snap peas and the CHICKEN. You could pour a few drops of Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine (the good kind in the pretty bottle with the ribbon) down the sides of the wok (again, not too much).

Step 6

Add the sauce. Let it bubble up. Then add the cornstarch slurry.

Step 7

Pour the sauce over the noodles and serve.