Farm Girl Goes Urban

For a young farm girl, traveling 25 miles down the road to the city of Dayton was a significant venture. A small distance by today’s standards, but surface streets of that day weren’t designed for efficiency. In actuality though, the principal expanse of the day’s journey was not about physical distance; it was about cultural distance. Life on the farm was insular; isolated in many ways. There was a vast multitude of people as well as happenings in the world, both of which were totally outside my experience. Which, I suppose, is one of the reasons my folks decided to raise us on the farm. Must maintain the innocence…

Every now and again though, Mom and Grandma would dress me to the nines in dress, hat, gloves and patent leather shoes for a trip “downtown.” I have no memory of why we were going, probably shopping. I was too busy gawking at all the lofty ornate buildings, along with every person whose appearance was different from my own. Of which there were many. The experience was honestly scary, due to my ignorance of where the heck all these different people came from. It never occurred to me to ask any questions concerning these thoughts, perhaps because I subconsciously understood that the times didn’t encourage such inquiries…

I could forget my concerns though when we arrived at the decidedly upscale dining room of Rike’s Department Store for lunch. At which I perpetually ordered the “little chicken.” This item from the kid’s menu was served in a ceramic ramekin, shaped like a chicken. The head and wings formed the lid. I never tired of lifting it off to reveal a little mound of steaming hot mashed potatoes covered with creamed chicken. If only such simple delights made my day today!

There was, though, a different sort of downtown trip that we made with just Mom, who I tend to forget had experienced a more sophisticated life before moving to the farm. Forget dress up and upscale. We would duck into an exotic dark little stairwell, and descend into a kitschy underground Chinese restaurant, complete with gaudy paper lanterns and stylized Chinese wall characters. In retrospect, there was absolutely nothing authentic about this spot, but it was my proper introduction to some of those different people, and to food that wasn’t meat, potatoes, and vegetable, each confined to their assigned space on the plate. I was eating egg foo young, basically scrambled eggs with some canned bean sprouts and soy sauce and feeling pretty darn worldly for a little farm kid.

In our farm kitchen, stir-frying came into vogue sometime in the late sixties-early seventies. Mom did not invest in a wok; she just used her electric skillet. Her claim to fame in Chinese cuisine was a dish she called chicken velvet, which she often prepared for guests. No idea where she got the recipe. In fact, I’m amazed to learn that “velveting chicken” is actually an authentic Chinese cooking method used to lock in the juices and keep the chicken moist and tender. Who knew? The strips of cooked chicken were combined with canned bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, candied ginger and green beans. While the only authentic thing about it was the cooking method, it made a delicious meat and vegetable entrée fit for company.

My version today offers a nod to Mom’s, though I eschew the “Chinese” vegetables for fresh seasonal vegetables. If a can of water chestnuts just happens to be residing in my pantry, I toss them in for old times’ sake, but they are completely optional. Her recipe didn’t include a sauce either, which I’ve added. One should feel free to tinker with the proportions of meat to vegetables, too. Given my current practice of less meat, more vegetables, I’ll be reducing the amount of chicken and increasing the amount of vegetables the next time I prepare it.

I can say honestly now that I’m a world traveler who has met numerous peoples and experienced many cultures and cuisines of the world. I can drive ten minutes from my home today and order what is probably a much more authentic Chinese meal. But I wish that little Chinese restaurant still lived underground in Dayton, and that Mom and I could duck in one more time. That is not to be, so I guess I’ll head to the kitchen to “velvet” some chicken

Print Recipe

Chicken Velvet

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Mary Kay Allen

Ingredients

• 1 lb. chicken breast sliced on the horizontal into 1/8-inch thick pieces
• 2- tablespoon cornstarch divided
• 1- tablespoon dry sherry
• 2- tablespoons water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1- tablespoon sherry
• 1- teaspoon sambal oelek
• 1- teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 green onions split lengthwise and sliced into 1-inch long strips
• 1- tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 3 to 4 cups stir-fry vegetables cut into 1-inch pieces (good choices include red bell peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, fresh green beans, broccoli, carrots, celery, etc.)
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts drained (optional)
• 3 tablespoons avocado oil or other oil with high smoke point
• ½ cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• Cooked rice for serving

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, combine the chicken slices, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, sherry, water and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sherry, re3maining cornstarch, sambal oelek, and sesame oil. Set aside. Have all vegetables prepared and ready for stir-frying.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over high heat in a wok or large skillet. Add half the chicken and cook, stirring constantly, until the chicken loses its raw appearance. Remove to a large bowl. Repeat with additional tablespoon of oil and remaining half of chicken.
• Heat remaining tablespoon of oil over high heat and add the green onions and ginger. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, and then add the remaining vegetables. Stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, adding the broth midway through. When vegetables are just crisp tender and broth reduced by half, add the chicken back to the skillet. Pour the reserved sauce mixture over and stir until the sauce thickens and becomes translucent. Sprinkle with the almonds and serve over rice.

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