Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
• 1 (8 ounce) can sliced bamboo shoots, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole straw mushrooms, drained
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine or cooking Sherry
• 1/4 cup chicken broth

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat until it begins to smoke. Stir in the fresh mushrooms, broccoli, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and straw mushrooms. Cook and stir until all the vegetables are hot, and the broccoli is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the wok, and set aside. Wipe out the wok.
2. Heat the remaining tablespoon of vegetable in the wok until it begins to smoke. Stir in the garlic, and cook for a few seconds until it turns golden-brown. Add the chicken, and cook until the chicken has lightly browned on the edges, and is no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes. Stir together the cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, and chicken broth in a small bowl. Pour over the chicken, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for about 30 seconds until the sauce thickens and is no longer cloudy. Return the vegetables to the wok, and toss with the sauce.

*I tripled the amount of sauce it recommended (using the Sherry) and tripled the amount of garlic to suit my families tastes.  I also added more broccoli, green peppers, baby corn and left out the straw mushrooms.

To round out the special meal I bought Japanese soda for the kids to try to had Fortune Cookies at the end of the meal.

It was a hit!  I served the dish over rice and my kids were licking their plates at the end of the meal.  I am definitely keeping this recipe to use again someday.

Today:

It was fun to go back and look at some of my early posts. This blog is a bit of a journal of our lives. My children were 8 and 11 when we began the dinner game. There were not very many posts the first year as we moved half-way across the country so I really don’t ever think about this time of blogging too much. It was great to see how much I have changed, my blog has changed, and my family life has changed.