Healthy Takeout: MooShu Chicken

I love Chinese food. Not just like… oh, its raining lets get Chinese tonight… more like I actually need it either once a week or once every 10 days, its problematic. I've probably at this point been chemically altered in my brain through excessive intake of MSG over my lifespan- much like I would imagine a crack user would feel like without crack. Chinese is my crack (too soon with the Philip Seymour Hoffman scandal? Well that was heroin so its not the same thing). ANYWAYS. The problem with Chinese food is it just makes you drag, its usually insanely high in sodium and can be greasy and gross, and delicious, but you catch my drift. When I started making Chinese food at home I was shocked at how simple it was and how little it needed to taste like the real deal, this MooShu Chicken recipe is no exception. It's delicious, filling, gluten free!, and doesn't leave me reaching for the phone for pan fried dumplings. A hot wok and some good ingredients and you are set- just call me your Chinese food Mr. Miyagi.

MooShu Chicken 
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
2 eggs, scrambled
1 1/2 tbs minced garlic
1 1/2 tbs minced ginger
1/4 cup sesame oil (approximately)
1/3 cup mirin (Chinese rice wine)
1/3 cup low sodium tamari
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (doesn't have to be perfect, cut them to equal size so they cook equally)
1/2 head purple cabbage, finely chopped
1 container shitake mushrooms, destemmed and sliced
1 tin water chestnuts, drained and roughly chopped
1 bunch scallions, sliced

Step 1: Prep your veggies. Chop your chicken into tiny chunks- I start by slicing it and then going at it with my knife like I would garlic- we don't want ground chicken here because it won't provide those lovely white meat morsels we are looking for.

Yea its not pretty but you need a visual of how chopped.

Step 2: Heat your work on high heat, add about 2 tbs of the sesame oil until fragrant (about 10 seconds) add in your egg until just lightly scrambled, about 30 seconds. Set aside.

Step 3: Add 2 more tbs of the sesame oil, then add 1/2 of your garlic and ginger to the pan, after about 15 seconds it should turn golden brown, add your chicken and give it a toss. Season with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Once halfway cooked (about 4 minutes) add in half of your rice wine and tamari. Cook until the liquid evaporates, about 3 more minutes, set aside.

Step 4: Add another 2 tbs of sesame oil to the wok, add in your onions, saute for about 2 minutes, then add the zucchini and cabbage, toss and saute for another 3 minutes, add your mushrooms and then the remaining garlic and ginger (make sure that garlic and ginger hits the heat- otherwise all you will taste is raw garlic and ginger) saute for another 2 minutes.

Step 5: Add your chicken, scrambled egg, scallions, and water chestnuts and crank the heat up. Season with a little more salt and pepper and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Top with some sesame seeds and serve with hoisin sauce and lettuce for a healthy MooShu treat. 

ENJOY!