March 6th: Chicken & Bok Choy with Crunchy Shallots

I was super pleased with this recipe tonight: it was delicious, and both my girls ate bok choy without complaint, and Olivia almost said she liked it. I love bok choy and would make it MUCH more often if others agreed. Post-supper, I was out of the house tonight and when I came home, the whole house still smelled of fish sauce. Maybe not so good. From March 2014's Chatelaine: Chicken & Bok Choy with Crunchy Shallots.

Chicken & Bok Choy with Crunchy Shallots

Cover 125 g fine rice-vermicelli noodles with boiling water in a large bowl. Let stand, stirring frequently, until tender, 5 to 7 min. Drain. Return to bowl.

Dice 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Combine with 3 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tsp hot chili-garlic sauce in a medium bowl. Stir to coat. Heat a very large non-stick pan over medium-high. Add 2 tsp canola oil, then chicken, reserving marinade. Cook until chicken is no longer pink, 2 to 3 min. Move chicken to sides of pan and add 10 baby bok choy, halved lengthwise. Cook, stirring often, until tender-crisp, 2 to 3 min. Transfer chicken and bok choy to a platter.

Add noodles to pan along with reserved marinade. Cook until heated through, at least 2 min. Divide among 4 plates. Top with chicken and bok choy and any liquid. Sprinkle 1/3 cup fried shallots over the plates and serve with a wedge of lime.


Makes 4 servings.

A couple notes: the recipe called for 10 baby bok choy, halved. I find they come in such varying sizes, you have to play this one by ear. I bought 8 (shout out to Farm Boy, who sells them in bulk!) and probably could have bought less, but I do love bok choy and I'll eat them all myself. I split them into leaves, then sliced up the bigger leaves. I fried them in two batches, for 6 minutes each. That almost doubled the overall cook time. Plan accordingly!

The recipe called for packaged fried shallots. I couldn't find these, nor do I imagine they are very good for you, so I made my own: I diced up shallots and lightly fried them in olive oil, then sprinkled panko crumbs on top and fried a few minutes more, then salted and peppered. Delicious.