Chinese Stir-Fried Chicken and Asparagus

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This is a traditional type of stir fry involving a meat, a vegetable(s), and simple seasonings. It is perfect served with steamed rice. Fresh ingredients make the dish as long as you don't over cook the asparagus.

Ingredients

1/2 to 1 lb. chicken breast
1 lb. fresh asparagus, woody stems trimmed
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 stalks green onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup Shao Xing Chinese Cooking Wine (or cooking sherry)
2 tbsp corn starch
salt
vegetable oil

Instructions

A note on the seasonings: the cornstarch and salt can be generic, but the flavor of a Chinese cooking wine or sherry imparts a certain flavor to the dish that cannot be achieved with standard cooking sherry. It is easy to find at any asian grocery. If you are unable to find it, then cooking sherry will suffice.

Garlic and green onions prepared for stir frying.

The key to this dish is fresh, in-season asparagus. Some people prefer skinny stalks, others prefer fat stalks. It doesn't matter, as long as the asparagus is crisp and sweet. I like to trim the woody ends of the stalks by hand rather than by knife. It helps me find where the give is in the vegetable. Don't just bend the stalk until it breaks though - you will lose too much asparagus. Feel for the point where it's too woody to eat, and force a break there.

Cut the asparagus on the diagonal to 2-inch pieces.

Trim any fat or connective tissue from the chicken breasts.

Slice the chicken breasts against the grain for oblong slices about 1/8-inch thick.

Add cornstarch, salt, and cooking wine to the chicken.

Mix the ingredients thoroughly and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan over high heat. Toss in half of the garlic and onions. Sauté for a minute when the oil begins to sizzle.

Add the asparagus at once and stir fry until the pieces just turn bright green. Remove from heat immediately and transfer to a bowl.

Return the pan to the burner and add a little more oil. Toss in the remaining garlic and green onions and stir fry like before. Add the chicken and sauté.

Make sure the chicken pieces are cooked evenly on the pan surface. When the outside is mostly white, grab the asparagus...

...and add it to the pot. Stir fry together until the chicken is done (perhaps another minute or two - but it will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat).

Serve immediately.

	A note on the seasonings: the cornstarch and salt can be generic, but the flavor of a Chinese cooking wine or sherry imparts a certain flavor to the dish that cannot be achieved with standard cooking sherry. It is easy to find at any asian grocery. If you are unable to find it, then cooking sherry will suffice.
	Garlic and green onions prepared for stir frying.
	The key to this dish is fresh, in-season asparagus. Some people prefer skinny stalks, others prefer fat stalks. It doesn't matter, as long as the asparagus is crisp and sweet. I like to trim the woody ends of the stalks by hand rather than by knife. It helps me find where the give is in the vegetable. Don't just bend the stalk until it breaks though - you will lose too much asparagus. Feel for the point where it's too woody to eat, and force a break there.
	Cut the asparagus on the diagonal to 2-inch pieces.
	Trim any fat or connective tissue from the chicken breasts.
	Slice the chicken breasts against the grain for oblong slices about 1/8-inch thick.
	Add cornstarch, salt, and cooking wine to the chicken.
	Mix the ingredients thoroughly and set aside.
	Heat oil in a pan over high heat. Toss in half of the garlic and onions. Sauté for a minute when the oil begins to sizzle.
	Add the asparagus at once and stir fry until the pieces just turn bright green. Remove from heat immediately and transfer to a bowl.
	Return the pan to the burner and add a little more oil. Toss in the remaining garlic and green onions and stir fry like before. Add the chicken and sauté.
	Make sure the chicken pieces are cooked evenly on the pan surface. When the outside is mostly white, grab the asparagus...
	...and add it to the pot. Stir fry together until the chicken is done (perhaps another minute or two - but it will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat).
	Serve immediately.