Chicken Lo Mein

This past Sunday was not only Valentine's Day, it was Chinese New Year. Happy year of the tiger everyone. We had some families over for a celebratory pot luck. In addition to pot stickers and rice, and some plain lo mein (long noodles for a long life), I planned to serve this chicken lo mein. I found the recipe at allrecipes.com. I realized after cutting the chicken and getting it in the marinade, I just hadn't left enough time, so I saved it for dinner the following night. We had plenty of food at the party, so it wasn't missed, but it turned out really good. My kids even all ate it in varying degrees. Ashley picked the red peppers out but ate the rest, Sammy ate the chicken and the noodles, and Jon ate mostly just chicken but said it tasted good. Here is the recipe. It is easy, and is really yummy.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves- cut into think strips (I just used a close to 2 lb. package I had. It was 3 breast halves, but they were large. I didn't want for more chicken in the dish)
5 teaspoons white sugar, divided (I only used 4, and I didn't miss the extra one bit. In fact, you could probably scale it down more if you wanted to)
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce, divided
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2.5 Tbsp cornstarch
1 (12 oz) package uncooked linguine (I used thin spaghetti and only put in about 7-8 oz. Soba noodles would work as well. I thought linguine would be a heavy choice here.)
2 Tbsp. veg oil, divided
2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger root (I grated it, because I am lazy)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 lb. fresh shitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
6 green onions, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces

I also added one chopped red bell pepper for color and texture etc. Others who commented added broccoli or snow peas. There is a lot of room to play with this if you want to.

1. in a medium, non-reactive bowl, combine the chicken with 2.5 teaspoons of sugar (I used only 2), 1.5 Tbsp. vinegar and 1/4 cup soy sauce. Mix this together and coat the chicken well. cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (because of my timing issue, mine was in there nearly 24 hours. It didn't hurt it)

2. In another medium bowl, combine the chicken broth, water, sesame oil and ground black pepper with the remaining sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. In a separate small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with some of this mixture and slowly add to the bulk of the mixture, stirring well. Set aside.

3. cook the linguine according to package directions, drain and set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp. veg oil in a wok or large saucepan over high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes or until browned. Transfer this and all juices to a warm plate.

4. Heat the remaining veg oil. Add ginger, garlic, mushrooms, green onions and stir fry 30 seconds. Add the reserved sauce mixture and then the chicken. Simmer until the sauce begins to thicken, about 2 to 5 minutes. Add the reserved noodles and toss gently, coating everything well with the sauce.

It was very flavorful but not really spicy. If you want to add a kick to it, I would suggest Tabasco sauce, stir frying dried red chili peppers with the chicken, or using a bit of cayenne in the sauce.