Stir-fried chicken with yellow chives & wood-ear fungus
Sweet yellow chives, crunchy wood ear and tender shredded chicken with warming ginger — on the table in ten minutes.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Blood Stasis calls for gently moving blood and keeping warm, and the rising yang of Start of Spring helps circulation along. Yellow chives are pungent and warm and move qi and blood, wood ear harmonises the blood and ginger warms you — eat it hot, with no iced drinks.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Soak the wood ear in water for 20 minutes until swollen, trim the hard base and tear into small pieces. Cut the carrot into fine shreds.
- 2Slice the chicken into thin strips and marinate with the soy sauce, cornflour and Shaoxing wine for 10 minutes; mix in a little oil before cooking.
- 3Wash the yellow chives, cut into 4 cm lengths and keep the stems and leaves separate.
- 4Heat the oil, fry the ginger until fragrant, then stir-fry the chicken for about 2 minutes until white; set aside.
- 5Stir-fry the wood ear and carrot for 1 minute, add the chive stems and chicken, then the chive leaves and salt. Toss over high heat for 30 seconds and serve with rice.
Cautions
- Wood ear has a mild blood-thinning effect — if you take anticoagulants, keep portions small or check with your doctor first.
Chef's tips
- Yellow chives are delicate: add them last and take the wok off the heat as soon as they wilt to keep them sweet.
The TCM view
Yellow chives, like green chives, are pungent and warm, enter the liver channel and move qi and blood; wood ear is sweet and neutral and harmonises the blood; chicken is sweet and warm and builds qi — when qi moves, blood follows; ginger warms the channels and dispels cold; carrot is sweet and neutral and supports digestion. Warm without drying, it gently gets qi and blood moving.
