String Bean Chicken

String Bean chicken plated in a bowl with white rice

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4.96 from 48 votes

This Panda Express copy cat String Bean Chicken comes together in minutes and is so much better than takeout!

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Author: Chris Joe

Ingredients

Chicken

1 lb chicken breast sliced into 1/4" pieces
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1/2 tbsp neutral oil I used avocado oil
1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp msg optional

Aromatics & Oils

1 tbsp ginger chopped
6 cloves garlic chopped
1 medium onion cut into quarters, petals separated
1 lb string beans cut into 2" strips
1 cup neutral oil I used avocado oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Slice chicken breast into 1/4" discs across the grain. Place in a mixing bowl and marinate with salt, white pepper, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and cornstarch for 15 minutes.
Cut green beans into 3" pieces and onion into quarters and separate the petals. Chop garlic and ginger and set aside in separate bowls.
Premix your sauce by mixing together chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and msg.
Heat 1 cup of avocado oil on high to 350F. Cook chicken in oil for 2 minutes (this technique is called velveting and will keep the lean chicken nice and juicy). Remove chicken and oil, leaving about 2 tbsp left in the pan.
Over medium high heat, stir fry green beans for 1-2 minutes until slightly blistered, then add your onions for another 30 seconds. Add in your ginger and garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Turn the heat to high, then add back your chicken and sauce and mix until combined. Continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes until the sauce has coated the ingredients and thickened slightly. Serve with freshly steamed rice and enjoy!

Notes

Chicken - I like to use chicken breast in this recipe but if you prefer chicken thigh, feel free to sub!

Dark soy sauce is thicker, darker, and sweeter (as well as has a higher sodium content) than regular soy sauce. Because I use these two ingredients at 1:1 ratio and there are so few ingredients in the sauce, there is not a substitute I can recommend :(

If you cannot or do not want to use Shaoxing wine, you can sub with sherry, mirin, or chicken stock!

A cornstarch slurry is a mixture of cornstarch and water that is used in cooking to thicken WITHOUT powdery lumps or additional flavors/colors! This is the secret to so many of your favorite Chinese dishes. My #1 tip is make sure your cornstarch slurry has not separated before adding it in - I always try to re-stir right before!

My favorite neutral oil is avocado oil, but you can also use canola or vegetable oil! I don't use olive oil when cooking Chinese food for two reasons: 1. It has a low burning point and 2. I find that the flavor profile does not usually go with the dish.

Velveting is a key Chinese cooking technique that involves marinating the protein in cornstarch and various seasonings (such as white pepper, salt, shaoxing wine, and oils) before quickly passing it through hot oil. It's one of my favorite ways to guarantee moist and tender meat, and it's a trick that I don't hear home chefs talk about often.

In most of my recipes, I like to cut my vegetables to a similar size - this ensures that one vegetable is not 'more' cooked than others, and it also is more aesthetically pleasing! You can adjust the size of the vegetables to your preference (smaller or larger) - just make sure to adjust the cooking time so they are 'done' to your liking!

Nutrition