Edible pea pods are a delicious crunchy vegetable great for a side or even a main dish and this chicken with snow peas stir-fry is no exception! Snow peas are more commonly associated with Chinese cuisine and in my opinion are a bit more tender than sugar snap peas. Both of these edible pea pod varieties have their own merits and can be used quite interchangeably in this and other dishes.
I have memories of snow peas from my days growing up in the Catskills when I would turn over the soil for the garden every spring and we would plant three large rows of these snow pea plants. They grew easily and fast, and soon after sowing them, we would have to put up cut tree branches to act as a trellis for the vines to climb on. Fond memories of my mom coming home from work during the week and picking a basket of these tender pods for the dinner table are still vivid in my mind today.
You can see from our other recipes that we use these snow peas in several dishes, but they are great as a main course. Leave the chicken out of this dish and you can also serve stir fried snow peas as a really easy side.
Here’s what you’ll need for the chicken with snow peas:
For the meat marinade:
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 2 chicken breasts (12 ounces), sliced into strips
- 1/3 cup chicken stock or water
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 pound snow peas, trimmed and washed
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon light soy
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground white pepper
- Pinch of sugar
Mix the cornstarch, light soy sauce, and oil in a bowl for the marinade. And add toss in the chicken. Set aside. For more information and preparing chicken for stir fries, see Bill’s post on Chicken velveting 101.
Mix 1/3 cup of hot water or chicken stock with cornstarch into a slurry and set aside. If you like more sauce for the rice, increase your hot water/stock and add more salt or soy sauce to taste.
Heat the wok over high heat until smoking, add a tablespoon of oil to coat the wok and spread the chicken around evenly. Let the chicken sear (don’t move the pieces) for about 60 seconds until browned on one side. If the wok is heated properly, the chicken should not stick.
Next, give the chicken a quick stir and add the minced garlic and snow peas.
Add the shaoxing wine around the rim of the wok to deglaze and stir everything together using a bottom to top folding motion for about 30 seconds.
Movement is important for the snow peas to cook evenly. The pods should be just starting to turn bright green now. Working quickly, add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir to combine, about 15 seconds.
Stir up your slurry mix (the water and starch has probably separated by now) and add to the wok. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds, or until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. All of the pea pods should be bright green by now. Don’t overcook or you precious pea pods will become limp and turn yellow!
Plate and serve your chicken with snow peas immediately with steamed rice.
Chicken with Snow Peas Stir-fry
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 2 chicken breasts (12 ounces) (sliced into strips)
- 1/3 cup chicken stock (or water)
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 pound snow peas (trimmed and washed)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon light soy
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground white pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Mix the cornstarch, light soy sauce, and oil in a bowl for the marinade. And add toss in the chicken. Set aside. Mix 1/3 cup of hot water or chicken stock with cornstarch into a slurry and set aside. If you like more sauce for the rice, increase your hot water/stock and add more salt or soy sauce to taste.
- Heat the wok over high heat until smoking, add a tablespoon of oil to coat the wok and spread the chicken around evenly. Let the chicken sear (don’t move the pieces) for about 60 seconds until browned on one side. If the wok is heated properly, the chicken should not stick. Next, give the chicken a quick stir and add the minced garlic and snow peas. Add the shaoxing wine around the rim of the wok to deglaze and stir everything together using a bottom to top folding motion for about 30 seconds.
- Movement is important for the snow peas to cook evenly. The pods should be just starting to turn bright green now. Working quickly, add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir to combine, about 15 seconds.
- Stir up your slurry mix (the water and starch has probably separated by now) and add to the wok. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds, or until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. All of the pea pods should be bright green by now. Don’t overcook or you precious pea pods will become limp and turn yellow!
- Plate and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Nutrition
ph85 says
Delicious. Just what I was looking for! Starving for good asian food during the COVID, and you came to our rescue. We did add a few extra veggies as the garden is bursting, and we are sauce crazy, so doubled the sauce to cover the additional veggies. Loved the silky chicken!
We also added a little garlic chili to the sauce for some spice! THANKS!!
Alicia says
Thank you for this fabulous recipe! Snow peas are my favorite vegetable, and I’m lucky to live in Little Saigon, so they’re abundant and inexpensive. You guys are amazing teachers, and make Chinese food accessible for the home cook. Whether it’s an old school Cantonese-American dish, or a more complex and authentic stunner, (like the stuffed lotus root w/pork), I know I’m in for a great lesson and a delicious outcome.
Tracy says
What’s the total weight to have for the amount of chicken? I feel like my supermarket only has giant chicken breasts.
Bill says
Hi Tracy, you can use 12 ounces or even 16 ounces, depending upon how many people you want to serve. Thanks for catching that omission. I have updated the recipe to require a more precise 12 ounces of chicken breast :)
Sandy says
I increased the sauce as we like our dishes saucy but this was absolutely fantastic! I added onion, carrots, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and finished the stir fry with snow peas. Served it with a side of egg fried rice with scallions.
The velveting method worked amazingly well – chicken breasts were super tender. But the only thing I want to note is that your recipe for velveting and bill’s is different for using 2 chicken breasts. I went with Bill’s only because he’s post was about velveting – may want to correct to avoid confusion for other users!
Otherewise fantastic! I haven’t had much success with stir fry and that changed last night thanks to you guys!
Sandy says
Ha just realized this recipe is from Bill!
Bill says
Yup, that’s me – this recipe and the photos could definitely use some updating though.
Bill says
Hi Sandy, this was a very old recipe post, but variations are allowed for velveting and marinating ;-) For velveting, I would agree that using the more recently published chicken velveting techniques are best. Happy cooking!
Link: https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-velvet-chicken-stir-fry/
Nicole says
Really flavorful and light! My question is , for the slurry, are the measurements correct? I put a half cup of broth (for extra sauce) to 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch and it turned out VERY thick so I added about another half cup till it thinned out.
Bill says
Hi Nicole, you’re right that the cornstarch is way too much for 1/4 cup stock. Thanks for catching that! In general, it’s better to mix the cornstarch slurry with a little bit of water and add it until you get the desired thickness, but I made the recipe more convenient. The cornstarch in the marinade also thickens the sauce a bit. I adjusted the cornstarch to 1/2 tablespoon and increased the stock to 1/3 cup for more sauce. Even then, always adjust with more or less stock as you like. Happy cooking!
Amy says
Is just like how my dad makes it – makes me miss home cooking! I added some wood ear mushrooms as I had some leftover from another dish I was cooking (also from this website!) … definitely will cook it again! :D
Bill says
Hi Amy, wood ears are a fantastic addition to this snow pea stir-fry dish!
okiegirl says
Wow. I don’t know how I missed this before, but I’m definitely regretting all the weeks I did not make this. Maybe because I don’t usually spring for the pricey snow peas, or maybe it just looked so simple. Regardless, it was outstanding! Your instructions were superb, as always, so that it came out with very tender juicy chicken and crunchy perfectly done snow peas. I did make a bit more sauce (who doesn’t like sauce???) with about 3/8 C broth and an extra splash of fish oil with the soy, etc. I’m still licking my lips. :)
Judy says
Hi Okiegirl, this is an old recipe, so you have been missing it for a few years now ;-) We are glad you found it.
Rita says
Simply amazing. Made with home made chicken broth and fresh pea pods and this recipe was so flavorful and tender it is impossible to put into words.
I altered recipe a bit by adding more broth and an abundance of processed up fresh garlic. I believe there is a lot of flexibility in this recipe so you can’t honestly go wrong. You really do need a very hot pan though to get a lovely seared flavor.
Bill says
Thanks Rita and yes, searing that chicken really brings out the flavor top complement those crunch snow peas!
Dianne says
This was a welcome change from the sesame chicken or pepper steak rut I’ve been in. We all enjoyed it immensely and it will definitely go into the regular rotation.
Bill says
Hi Dianne, glad you enjoyed it – snow peas are very refreshing in a stir-fry :)
Karen C says
Made this for dinner tonight with a simple bowl of jasmine rice. Delicious! Thanks for posting it.
Bill says
Hi Karen, you’re welcome and I find that sometimes the simplest recipes are best!