The BEST Homemade Chinese Chicken & String Beans

Chinese Chicken & String Beans will be your new favorite Chinese takeout dish that you can make in your own kitchen! If you love the texture and flavors in Chinese dishes, you will love this chicken and string bean dinner. It has that sticky sauce that clings to the juicy chicken and the crispy string beans.

String Beans, Not Broccoli?

I am a huge fan of Chinese chicken and broccoli. It is by far my favorite dinner dish to order, when getting Chinese takeout. I love broccoli and love the brown sauce in the chicken and broccoli. The chicken is so tender and the broccoli soaks up that delicious sauce! So why am I talking about chicken and broccoli in a chicken and string bean recipe? Well, I wanted to mimic the recipe using string beans. Seems strange that I would want to mimic the chicken and broccoli with string beans considering I am not a fan of string beans! I never really liked them when I was growing up. I didn’t hate them. Rather, I would have preferred not eating them or eating almost any other vegetable instead of them!

That being said, I LOVE this Chinese chicken & string bean recipe. That probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, but seeing as though I don’t dislike green beans, it isn’t that out of whack. The amazing textures and flavors that take place in this yummy dinner will make anyone on the fence about string beans a true fan!

Chinese Takeout At Home

If you have read my recipes for other Asian dishes such as Egg Roll In A Bowl and Shrimp Fried Rice, you know that I continuously say that Asian dishes have a ton of ingredients, however, they are incredibly easy to cook. Long list of ingredients in recipes turn me off from wanting to try them. Take my word for it, you need to give this recipe a try! Please don’t be overwhelmed when you see this list of ingredients, it is a VERY easy dinner to make and the effort it takes is SO worth it!

Here is what you will need:

• 1.5 lbs Boneless Chicken cut into bite size pieces

Marinade

• 2 tbsp Rice Wine
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Corn Starch

Sauce

• 5 tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 4 tbsp Rice Wine
• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1/2 cup Chicken Broth
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp Corn Starch
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Stir Fry

• 1 lb String Beans
• 4 tbsp Sesame Oil can use canola oil, if preferred
• 4 tbsp Garlic minced
• 2 tsp Ginger ground or minced
• 2/3 cup Water

Ingredient Notes

There are some key ingredients that you might feel uneasy about and they are:

• Rice Wine
• Cornstarch
• Salt

Rice wine is a clear wine that is made from fermented rice. It has a unique taste that is pretty strong and is common in Asian inspired dishes. This is a must have if you want to cook this dish. Actually, it’s a must have to have on hand, if you want to cook most Asian dishes! Do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of it, you can buy it. You can find it in your local supermarket in the ethnic aisle. And one bottle goes a long way.

I’m going to warn you, there is a good amount of cornstarch in this Chinese Chicken and String Bean recipe. I questioned the amounts when I first made this dish. But, what does this 3/4 Italian, 1/4 Irish woman know about making Chinese food? I’m definitely learning, but I am not a pro…not yet anyway! I put my faith in the recipe (well, truth be told, I used a recipe, but tweaked it in a few places – I do that all the time and that’s how I make these recipes up!) and jumped in. Put your trust in this recipe. The cornstarch makes the sauce sticky and keeps the chicken juicy. It’s an awesome combination!

Finally, the salt. It is a 4 letter word after all. Chinese food gets a bad wrap because of the sodium factor. This recipe calls for salt. Normally, I omit salt or use is sparingly, but because the soy sauce amount was so low, I added the salt as recommended. It was amazing! And I didn’t blow up like a salty balloon after eating this dinner.

Homemade Chinese Food

Once you gather up your ingredients, read through the recipe a few times. You will notice that there are a few segments to it; the marinade, the sauce, and cooking the stir fry. It sounds like a lot, yes, but take a breath. Start with the prep work and cut up the chicken. Next, mix up the marinade and douse the chicken in it. Let it sit and soak up the juice while you prepare the sauce.

Once the prepping is complete, move your attention to the stove. It’s time to steam the string beans. Once steamed, move them to a plate and work on the chicken. The marinade only takes about 10 minutes to really do it’s magic. Cook the chicken so that it is almost cooked through. Don’t worry, the chicken will be fully cooked, when the dish is complete. Add the garlic and ginger, mix it up, let it simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Now, give the pre-made sauce a quick stir before adding it to the pan. Mix that up, then add the string beans back to the pan and let everything cook together for a few more minutes.

What To Serve Over

First and foremost, you don’t need to serve this yummy dinner with anything besides the chicken and string beans. However, if you want to complete the meal, you will probably want to add some kind of starch.

Rice

The obvious choice for serving the Chinese Chicken and String Beans is to serve it over rice. You could choose white rice, brown rice, or make a fried rice. All of them are a great choice.

Ramen Noodles

Other options that pair well with this scrumptious meal are ramen noodles, rice noodles, or other pan fried noodles would work as well.

The choice is yours, make this dinner your own. Whatever you decide to do, it will be amazing. And knowing that you created the masterpiece will make it even more incredible!

More Asian Inspired Dishes

Love this recipe and want more Asian inspired dishes? Check out:

Chinese Chicken & Broccoli

Egg Roll In A Bowl

Crab Rangoon

Hawaiian Chicken

Martinis To Accompany

French Martini

Blueberry Watermelon Martini

Pistachio Martini

Chocolate Amaretto Martini

Bananas Foster Martini