Pastured chicken, napa cabbage, leeks, garlic, red onions and carrots in a rich and savory sauce, make this quick easy chow mein dinner.
Chow mein! Thick savory sauce with notes of garlic and soy with loads of meat and crisp veggies usually starved over crunchy wheat noodles, it’s the Americanized Asian food often with MSG we all grew up with. Bean sprouts, noodles, corn starch don’t exactly fit into the Lectin-Free lifestyle. But this dish is seriously easy to make without lectins and inflammatory ingredients.
It’s no big thing to make this dish lectin free with no MSG. Chow mein is really a ”kitchen sink” dish and you can literally throw in any compliant veggies you have on hand like mushrooms, celery, bok choy, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, or whatever. I just happened to have napa cabbage, leeks and carrots that I needed to use up. And they made a great version of my Lectin Free Gourmet healthy chow mein.
As the old adage goes, the secret is in the sauce. And in this case it really is. I used real fermented soy sauce. Fermented soy is okay because the fermentation process kills the lectins in the soy. If you study the Chinese diet, you find that fermented soy products like douchi, soy sauce, sufu, and miso are centuries-old staples. However if you have a known sensitivity to soy sauce, I’m talking about the authentic fermented soy sauce you find at the Asian market, then just swap out for coconut aminos instead. Ready for the recipe? Let’s go!
The Recipe
Lectin Free Gourmet Chicken Chow Mein
1 Cubed Pastured Whole Chicken Breast
2 C Sliced Napa Cabbage
1 C Sliced Leeks
1 C Julienned Carrots
1/4 C Coursely Diced Red Onion
2 Minced Garlic Cloves
2 T Sesame Oil
2 T Tapioca Starch
2 C Chicken Bone Broth preferably homemade
2 T Fermented Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos
Slivered Blanched Almonds for Garnish
Black Sesame Seeds for Garnish
Instructions:
Step 1: Make a Roux
In a Dutch oven, add oil and starch on medium heat. Stir until it bubbles and forms a paste.
Step 2: Brown Meat
Add cubed Chicken and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally until brown. The meat doesn’t have to be cooked through at this point.
Step 3: Sauté the Vegetables
Add cabbage, leeks, carrots, onions, and garlic. Let the veggies soften, become shiny and slightly brown, about 3 minutes. Chicken will continue cook with veggies.
Step 4: Make Sauce
Pour in bone broth and soy sauce (or coconut aminos), and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes until meat is cooked through and veggies are tender crisp.
Serve over pressure cooked white rice if you can stomach it or use cauliflower or Miracle rice. Top with black sesame seeds and slivered blanched almonds.
ENJOY!