Growing up one of my favorite dinners to have was Chinese food. It was usually a special occasion that we ordered Chinese, so it wasn’t an indulgence that I had often. Bill is another lover of Chinese food, but his mom would frequently cook home made Chinese dinners for their family, so of course what he ate was a little healthier than ordering greasy Chinese from a restaurant. These days I cant stomach the idea of Chinese food, it’s right up there with drive through and pizza, yuck.
Although heavy sauces and vegetable oil fried Chinese food is not something that Bill and I are interested in, we do however enjoy a fresh home made stir fry, with mouth watering Asian flavors.
Every once in a blue moon Bill creates a masterpiece in the kitchen, just kidding! Yes, more often than not I’m the head chef, but the recipe is never complete without agreement on both parts. For this particular recipe, Bill took the lead, and created a delicious Asian stir fry using sesame oil and coconut aminos. The flavors were outstanding! The added shredded cabbage gives the facade of noodles being in the dish, but enhances the texture beautifully with subtle crunch.
Ingredients:
- Chicken or beef
- 1/4 cup almonds, chopped
- 1/2 cup water chestnuts
- 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut in half
- 1/4 cup celery, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced Ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 cups broccoli
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- Toasted sesame oil
- Coconut aminos
- Sesame seeds to garnish
Process:
- Clean all vegetables and trim fat from meat (if applicable).
- Cut broccoli, chicken and mushrooms into bite sized pieces.
- Thinly slice 2 cups of cabbage (about half the head of cabbage).
- Chop almonds, green onion, celery; mince garlic and ginger.
- Heat wok over high heat.
- Add sesame oil, swirl to coat bottom of wok, then add meat.
- Cook meat for 3-4 minutes, until mostly cooked.
- Add in broccoli, water chestnuts, celery and shiitake mushrooms; cook for 2 minutes
- Add in almonds, cabbage, ginger, green onion and garlic. Add a splash of coconut aminos (2-4 tbsp). Cook 2-3 minutes, until cabbage softens a little.
- Remove from heat, garnish with sesame seeds, and enjoy!
This was a simple stir fry with wonderful color, flavor, and texture. A perfect meal for lunch or dinner. I cannot wait to have Bill cook this one for me again. Delicious!
Hey guys,
This recipe looks amazing! One thing I noticed though – sesame oil should not be used for cooking, no? It leaches out the flavor. I'm thinking maybe you use a little coconut oil or some lard to cook the chicken and just drizzle the sesame oil on top at the end to preserve flavor? Just a thought!
-Meghan
Hey Meghan,
Sesame oil is OK for cooking, although coconut oil and lard would be acceptable substitutes. Sesame oil is commonly used for stir frying meats in Asian cuisine and gives it a distinct, authentic flavor which is central to this dish. It is a good oil for stir frying because of its high smoke point. We have not experienced the flavor leaching out during cooking (and are hard pressed to find anything about that on the internet).
I've heard peanut oil is also good for chinese stirfrying because of its high smoke point, but I've never used it. Can anyone weigh in?
Hey Nell,
You're right – peanut oil does have a high smoke point. It is also commonly used for deep frying for this reason, too. We don't consume peanuts, though, as legumes are not part of the Paleo diet.
Whoops! Looks like I need to read up on my legumes.
Cool, I was just wondering because I'd always read that it was a garnish, not a cooking oil, but I trust you guys!
Ooh, this looks so delicious! And I'm with you on not being able to stomach most Chinese takeout food (or any restaurant food these days-almost). Most restaurant stuff is just too salty and fakey. Plus, who needs all that when one knows how to make such nice things at home;)?!
Glad to find your blog…
Yum! Made this tonight without celery, water chesnuts, or almonds, but it was still delicious! Will be checking out your other recipes!
Sounds wonderful! With all those awesome veggies I can't see a need for noodles at all.
Substituted the sesame oil with coconut oil..and used regulare mushrooms since I could not locate any shitake at the store. OH-EM-GEE Amazing. I added a bit of fresh squeezed lime juice and some cilantro!! Was wonderful!! 🙂
I make many stir fries and this is by far the tastiest one yet. Absolutely delish:)
Fun fact – sesame oil contains a protective antioxidant called Sesamin that protects it from damage when you cook with it! Pretty cool, huh? It's the only seed oil I use for stovetop cooking 🙂
I had some leftover goose that I wasn't sure what to do with, when I saw your recipe this evening. Wow, this was the perfect recipe for the situation and SO good!! I think it would be even better with the original chicken! Thanks Haley and Bill!
Glad you enjoyed it Patty! Looks like your new site is off to a great start – you're getting a lot of action! 🙂
Definitely try this recipe with the chicken. I also make it with steak, too, which is equally good! I bet the goose was a good protein, anyway – perfectly fitting for this type of dish. Glad you tried it, and enjoyed it!
Glad everyone is enjoying this dish so much! 🙂 Love the feedback – thanks for following, everyone!
I just made this dish and it is delicious! Great directions and amazing flavor. This blog is so inspiring and getting me interested in cooking again. Thank you!
I did a variation of this dish for dinner last night with a coconut curry. It was a huge hit! I've always been a fan of stir fry for a quick dinner but the addition of cabbage for a noodle replacement is something I hadn't thought of. This was really really good!
Another winner for our household. My boys ate it up, and nothing makes a mom feel quite so proud as watching her kids slurp cabbage from a bowl instead of noodles. 🙂 Thanks again.
This one looks like a keeper! I'll give it a try, minus the nuts. I like the idea of making healthy Chinese food!
Yep. Totally a keeper. I made this minus a few ingredients like the celery mushrooms, sesame seeds, almonds and aminos (because I had no idea what that was) and it was still awesome! I sprinkled some dulse and sea salt on it too which made it even more amazing.
Wow! Absolutely delicious! It was a success with my parents and niece. My niece and dad just so happen to be picky eaters too. Thanks
What are coconut aminos and can they be found easily? I really want to add this to my meal plan for next week!
this was great, but needed a little salt. we used a seasoning salt and it seemed to hit the spot!
I made this last night exact to the recipe… AMAZING! My husband wants it as a weekly staple 🙂
its a substitute for soy sauce… a lot less sodium! I found it at Whole Foods! this recipe is a keeper!
How many servings does this make?
About 4 (it's on the printable recipe card).
I figured it was written somewhere, I just couldn't find it. I was making it for dinner and was concerned it wouldn't be enough. The family really enjoyed it, thank you!
This recipe looks so good – I am going to try it tonight as I already have most of the ingredients. Also, a thank you for including pictures in the printer -friendly version of your recipe. Not many sites do this and it’s a fantastic touch!