Broccoli is a great price these days, so I bought a bundle and paired it with chicken for a Chinese stir fry with noodles.
I winged this dish so writing up the recipe below was as accurate as I could make it, a few hours after the fact. If anything doesn’t make sense, please let me know.
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry with Noodles – serves 2-3
200 gm dry spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
1 large chicken breast, skinless and boneless
3 tbsp soy sauce, divided
1 tbsp and 1 tsp cornstarch, divided
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced (may be replaced with 1/4 tsp dry garlic)
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1-2 stalks green onion, finely sliced
1 stalk broccoli, cut into 2-2 1/2 inch long florettes, peeled stalk cut into 1/4 inch thick planks about the same length
1/2 tsp salt
water as needed
Cut the chicken breast into 1/2 inch slices and dice into 1 inch cubes.
In a bowl, add diced chicken, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp cornstarch, hoisin, mirin, sugar, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, half the ginger and half the garlic, white pepper and the white part of the green onion. Mix together and refrigerate overnight or for about 15-20 minutes at room temperature.
Cook pasta, drain and keep warm.
In a large saute pan, heat vegetable oil over medium high heat, add the remaining ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes, broccoli and salt and saute for a few minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and steam for 2 minutes until broccoli is still green and slightly crunchy. Transfer the broccoli, ginger and garlic to a bowl and reserve.
Drain the marinaded chicken and reserve the liquid. Add the drained chicken to the hot saute pan and saute for a few minutes until it’s no longer pink. Stir often so the chicken doesn’t stick.
In a small bowl, mix the remaining tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and reserve.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the reserved marinade, the remaining tablespoon of soy sauce, the broccoli and the cornstarch mixture above. Stir through and cook until the sauce thickens and coats the meat and broccoli.
Add the hot, drained noodles and the green part of the onion and stir through to coat the noodles.
Taste for salt level. If needed, add some soy sauce and serve.
Cooking is Fun ... Really!! 
This is absolutely drooling!! Nice share Boleyn.
Thank youl
You are welcome Boleyn:)
I’m still trying to make most of summer vegetables (aubergine, sweet and chilli peppers, courgettes….) but I know inevitably these will lose taste quite soon… and I’ll star buying broccoli again. Your stir fry looks delicious.
Thank you. I’m not a big fan of many veggies but our options are many and varied. The only way I’ve ever used courgette (zucchini) is in vegetarian lasagna though I may give zucchini bread one of these days. I’m not a fan of aubergine (eggplant) … last time I bought one, I ended up throwing it away without ever using it.
I advise simply stir-frying and keeping crisp every single vegetable (maybe adding some spices/sauces you like). Or raw! (raw, salt-pickled Japanese aubergine is excellent and you’d never guess it’s aubergine). This way you”ll know what you really like and what you don’t (and not the way it’s cooked because most vegetables are delicious when crisp and awful when mushy and soft, at least for me; the only way I accept mushy vegetables is ratatouille.The aubergine, I knew it only soaked with fat… but now I discovered how wonderful it is simmered in tomato sauce or grilled in thin slices… or raw, prepared in Japanese way!
Your suggestions make a lot of sense. I grew up with veggies boiled until they were gray and tasteless. Or fried in oil and served dripping. I’m hoping to slowly add some more over the coming years.