Fragrant and aromatic, Oyster Sauce Chicken is the go-to dish in the Yummefy kitchen when we want a quick Chinese meal without having to order in. This restaurant style garlic oyster sauce chicken is comforting, easy to make, and delicious. Our garlic chicken with oyster sauce recipe is cooked Chinese style and defines ‘food for the soul’. If you have the ingredients for chicken in garlic oyster sauce handy in your pantry, this is one of the easiest recipes to dish out and impress when you have company or when you want to have a pleasing meal on the table without much effort. Jump to the Recipe here.
For making chicken with oyster sauce you need to prepare a marinade with light soya sauce, sugar, and Shaoxing rice wine. You will also need boneless chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces, groundnut oil (though you could use any other cooking oil), deseeded dried red chillies, ginger, onions sliced into thin rounds, chopped garlic, salt, oyster sauce, and the green part of spring onion. The ingredients couldn’t get simpler and the final dish is outstanding – chicken with a glaze of garlic oyster sauce when eaten with steamed rice is quite delightful.
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You may find this recipe short and simple but the final result is just finger lickin’ lip smackingly good. The secret to making this recipe well is two-fold: the trick lies in starting with quality ingredients and following the right technique. You must use the listed ingredients in the oyster sauce chicken recipe to make it restaurant style.
You can procure the Shaoxing rice wine from any good grocery store or supermarket that carries international products, or even online. Light soya sauce is easily available at supermarkets. It imparts a salty taste, so one needs to be mindful of the amount of salt used in the dish while cooking with light soy sauce. Oyster sauce too is easily available at supermarkets. The oyster sauce gives the dish its signature taste. It is made with oyster extracts, salt, and sugar among other ingredients. When combined with other ingredients, this sauce makes the final dish savoury and extremely likeable. Oyster sauce is a pantry staple in many Asian households and a dark coloured sauce from a trusted brand such as Lee Kum Kee is preferable. Adding a touch of sugar balances the dish.
The outcome of cooking almost any protein or vegetable with oyster sauce is highly appreciated at the table. So if you don't have it as a pantry staple already, you might change that after you prepare the garlic chicken with oyster sauce our way.
The second secret to this recipe is the technique i.e. stir-frying or tossing the bite-sized meat pieces on high heat in the wok. In fact, all Chinese stir-fry dishes are made in a similar fashion.
The marinade must be made in a glass bowl or a non-reactive bowl so that ingredients don't react with the metal.
I have asked for a medium sized wok to make this recipe as it uses only 250 grams of chicken. However, if you wish you can double the ingredients and use a bigger size wok accordingly. Or if you need to make a larger quantity, then do it in batches. It is important in stir frying that the heat is intense and the ingredients have space to stir fry. If the ingredients are crowded in the wok, they will tend to steam rather than stir-fry. That is not what you want in a stir-fry.
When the oil is hot add chillies till they flavour the oil, followed by sliced ginger and onions. Follow it up with chopped garlic. You need to cook the garlic only till the garlic starts to colour. If you cook it beyond that it may burn.
Keep stirring or tossing (if you can) the chicken when you add it to the wok. On high heat, the chicken will be done in about four minutes when the colour changes to white and is cooked through.
If you wish you can add vegetables such as mushrooms or any other vegetables of your choice to this recipe.
Serve the chicken with oyster sauce hot with a side of steamed rice or sticky rice. Garnish with some spring onion greens before serving. For a more elaborate meal, I would suggest adding Veg Hakka Noodles, Sichuan Tofu, and rounding off the meal with Mango Pudding.
You can make a vegan or vegetarian version of the chicken in garlic oyster sauce by swapping tofu for chicken. You will need to use vegetarian oyster sauce that is made out of mushrooms for the vegan variation.
Learn how to make a delicious Chicken in Garlic Oyster Sauce at home by following our easy step by step photos or follow the detailed video recipe above which handholds you through the process. Find the easiest way to make this recipe, its simple ingredients, and top tricks to make it right here.