I remember moo goo gai pan from my first job in a Chinese restaurant in upstate New York. As was the case for this Chinese kid and most Americanized Chinese dishes, the first time I ate it was on the job!
The first time I saw my father prepare moo goo gai pan, it was for a Polynesian Luau for three. Don’t ask me why they called a three course meal consisting of Chinese American dishes a “Polynesian Luau,” but the name apparently worked.
“The Luau” was one of the most popular items on the menu. The restaurant had lines out the door on summer weekend nights, and most showed up for that luau experience. (There was also the occasional 21-ounce NY strip steak on the American side of the menu, for those in a less festive mood.)
The Luau started with soup, followed by a Pu Pu platter appetizer course, and then the main dishes. A Luau for two consisted of Roast Pork Fried Rice and Shrimp with Lobster Sauce. If it was a luau for three, you were also served Moo Goo Gai Pan.
Moo Goo Gai Pan was actually the perfect addition of healthy vegetables to complement the rice and shrimp and that Pu Pu platter, which usually consisted of fried treats like egg rolls.
Note: this post was originally published in March 2016, with updates made to it in June 2019!
What Is Moo Goo Gai Pan?
Moo Goo Gai Pan is a Cantonese dish that’s been served in Chinese restaurants pretty much ever since they appeared in the US. The name originates from the Cantonese dialect and translates directly to “mushrooms and sliced chicken.”
Moo Goo Gai Pan, finished in a white sauce, is made with the large variety of white bok choy, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts. The dish is definitely one of the healthiest you’ll find on any Chinese restaurant menu, and it has the delicate and subtle flavors characteristic of Cantonese cooking.
A Chinese “white sauce” simply means there is no soy sauce used in the dish. Instead, a white sauce dish like moo goo gai pan uses chicken stock, fresh ginger, garlic, and scallions. The result is an aromatic and flavorful dish that’s very easy to make at home!
I hope you enjoy this healthy Moo Goo Gai Pan. Remember, you can add pretty much any vegetable combination to this dish, using the recipe for the sauce as your foundation!
Moo Goo Gai Pan: Recipe Instructions
Place the chicken and 3 tablespoons of water in a medium bowl. Massage the chicken with your hands until the water is absorbed by the chicken.
Next, add the rest of the marinade ingredients: 1 teaspoon canola oil, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of ground white pepper. Mix well and set aside for 20 minutes. For more information and preparing chicken for stir fries, see Bill’s post on Chicken velveting 101.
Heat the wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke.
Coat the perimeter of the wok with two tablespoons of oil, and spread the chicken in one layer around the wok. Let it sear for 20 seconds. Turn the chicken and let the other side sear for another 20 seconds.
Turn the heat off, and transfer the chicken back to your marinade bowl. The chicken should be about 60% done.
Turn the burner back on to high heat, and add another tablespoon of oil, along with the ginger slices. Let the ginger infuse the oil for about 10 seconds.
Add the scallions and garlic and stir fry for another 15 seconds.
Next, add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts.
Stir fry for 30 seconds, and add the bok choy.
Next, add the Shaoxing wine and stir-fry for another minute.
Then add the seared chicken slices and the hot chicken stock. You can add more or less chicken stock depending on how much sauce you want in the dish.
It’s important to add hot or even boiling chicken stock to keep the wok up to temperature. Most stove burners at home don’t generate enough heat for a good stir-fry, so this is especially important for home cooks!
Come to think of it, every Chinese restaurant has a huge stock pot situated right next to each wok station that is constantly simmering. Its sole purpose is to provide hot, tasty stock for soups and many other dishes.
So at home, do like the restaurant chefs. Make your own homemade chicken stock and heat it up before adding it to any stir-fry dishes to build and preserve that wok hay!
If you don’t have time to make homemade chicken stock, then use an organic chicken base (We use Better Than Bouillon Organic Chicken Base, which we can get at our local Costco.) One jar lasts a long time in the fridge, and it’s perfect whenever we find ourselves without stock in the freezer or in the pantry. We also add it to veggie stir-fries for added flavor!
While the mixture is coming to a boil, add about a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of white pepper, along with the sugar, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Stir until well-combined. Taste the sauce with a spoon and re-season to taste.
Give the cornstarch slurry a quick stir, as the water and starch tend to separate, and add slowly to the wok while stirring constantly.
You can add more or less slurry, depending upon how thick you like your sauce to be.
After cooking for another minute, serve immediately with steamed rice!
We added a bit of millet to our rice this time around!
Enjoy this one!
Moo Goo Gai Pan: Mushroom Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 12 ounces chicken breast (340g, sliced)
- 3 tablespoons water (45 ml)
- 1 teaspoon canola oil (plus 3 tablespoons, divided)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- salt and white pepper
- 6 thin slices fresh ginger
- 2 scallions (the white portion only, sliced at an angle into ½-inch pieces)
- 2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- ½ cup sliced white or cremini mushrooms
- 8 ounces straw mushrooms (canned, drained and rinsed in warm water, optional)
- 8 ounces bamboo shoots (canned, rinsed in warm water and drained)
- 8 ounces water chestnuts (canned, rinsed in warm water and drained)
- 4 to 5 cups bok choy (washed and cut into 1 inch by 2 inch rectangles)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 cup chicken stock (chicken stock should be hot when added to wok)
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed with 2 tablespoons water)
Instructions
- Place the chicken and 3 tablespoons of water in a medium bowl. Massage the chicken with your hands until the water is absorbed by the chicken. Next, add the rest of the marinade ingredients: 1 teaspoon canola oil, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of ground white pepper. Mix well and set aside for 20 minutes.
- Heat the wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Coat the perimeter of the wok with two tablespoons of oil, and spread the chicken in one layer around the wok. Let it sear for 20 seconds. Turn the chicken and let the other side sear for another 20 seconds. Turn the heat off, and transfer the chicken back to your marinade bowl. The chicken should be about 60% done.
- Turn the burner back on to high heat, and add another tablespoon of oil, along with the ginger slices. Let the ginger infuse the oil for about 10 seconds. Add the scallions and garlic and stir fry for another 15 seconds. Next, add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts. Stir fry for 30 seconds, and add the bok choy.
- Next, add the Shaoxing wine and stir-fry for another minute. Then add the seared chicken slices and the hot chicken stock. It’s important to add hot or even boiling chicken stock to keep the wok up to temperature. Most stove burners at home don’t generate enough heat for a good stir-fry, so this is especially important for home cooks!
- While the mixture is coming to a boil, add about a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of white pepper, along with the sugar, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Stir until well-combined. Taste the sauce with a spoon and re-season to taste.
- Give the cornstarch slurry a quick stir, as the water and starch tend to separate, and add slowly to the wok while stirring constantly. You can add more or less slurry, depending upon how thick you like your sauce to be. After a minute, the sauce should be thickened. Serve immediately with steamed rice!
nutrition facts
Very nice. This is real comfort food. Maybe a bit timid for some, but this evening, of all days, it was incomparably soothing.
Hi Cheryl, agree with your comment. Some nights we just need something soothing and easy on our constitution, but delicious to eat :)
This recipe tastes like restaurant quality. All your recipes are spot on. I’m cooking stuff my parents, now passed away, used to cook. Of course they never used recipes, so I never had anything to go by, except memory. My Chinese cooking has gotten so much better since I’ve discovered your website!
Hi Lisa, it just warms our heart to hear stories like yours, where you are carrying on cooking foods that your parents used to eat/make. Most of all, we love to hear that we are helping you cook better at home, which is one of our main goals for creating this blog – to share recipes and food traditions so they are not lost. Happy cooking!
I cook dinner most days. Mostly Mexican stuff. I try to make Asian food about every other week, sometimes more. I’ve been doing this for quite a while… even bought an expensive wok many years ago, but have never perfected the art of stir-fry. And I never will. I accept that after decades of trying. I’m getting better at it though.
This recipe, I would say, was one of my easier ones to get pretty close to right. I followed it to the letter and it was very tasty. Thank you.
Nice job Diana, keep on cooking!
Thank you for making the dish we see on Tv! First time I think I’ve seen it! Will be interesting to try!
Have a request for a Pu Pu platter post! Have always been curious! Haven’t ever found one I think, here in Canada!
You’re welcome Liv, for a Pu Pu, you have to make a choice of 5 of these items: our classic egg roll, shrimp toast, spare ribs, chicken wings, char siu, or Fantail shrimp. Happy cooking!
I had to double the recipe, since I was feeding dudes tonight. I thought I didn’t have enough meat, so I added boneless chicken thighs. Next time, though, I will just get more chicken breast, as they were a breeze to slice thinly. Made my own broth from the chicky thighs I ended up not using.
Overall, the result was ‘hardly any leftover’ delicious! Yes, a keeper and I will make it again and again.
Whilst prepping the ingredients, in my head I just kept hearing The Fifth Dimension song “Will You Marry Me, Bill.” All because I’m making one of Bill’s recipes (lol).
Hi Rora, sounds like you made a successful meal – smart thing to do making the broth, which makes a huge difference in the dish. I know that Fifth Dimension song – so funny!
hello! This recipe is spot on and delicious. I omitted bamboo shoots and added snow peas. It was a hit with my family. Thank you for sharing your family recipes. So far each one I have tried is delicious. I recommend “the woks of life” to all my friends!!!
Hi Jolene, glad you enjoyed our moo goo gai pan, and thanks for sharing our recipes with your friends :)
I will never forget Moo Goo Gai Pan, partly because it tastes so good, but mostly from watching a Bob Newhart show when he was trying to order it over the phone while he was quite drunk. I always wondered what it was and know I know. Thanks.
Haha, you’re welcome Sue!
Hi guys, for most of my life I have not liked Chinese Food. If someone suggested it I would say no. I had to be in the mood and that did not happen but maybe twice a year. Since the beginning of stay at home I’ve been craving it. So I finally pulled my wok down(house warming gift used once in 15 years) and cooked the recipes on this site at home. I must say it tastes way better to make and eat at home then take out. I have made 4 different recipes in two weeks. Moo Goo Gai Pan is tonight’s dinner. So good and the wok helps not turning on oven in 100° weather. My family thanks you for making Mom like Chinese food finally.
Hi Fan C, thanks so much for your comment and story – sounds like you’re going to be cooking Chinese regularly now :)
YUMM! Very good! I have made this 2 times now in 1 week and even stocked up my pantry with a few things as the grocery store is 30 miles away and they don’t carry straw mushrooms and are always out of bamboo shoots to. Hello Amazon to the rescue they got them so I got 6 cans of them by Roland and since I’m buying these I also got bamboo shoots and water chestnuts too. I’ll be making this once a week or so. Also I have got quite a few other things from amazon like your Chinese sauces, vinegars, spices and oils Etc. that you all have on your ingredient list as I have made other recipes from your site. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the inspiration ; )
Hi Rick, Amazon to the rescue! That’s great that you have stocked up on these ingredients. Happy wokking!
I’ve made this recipe 5x’s! Your recipes for me are as authentic to Chinese food as you can get. Thank you for sharing your families secret treasures!
Mary
Hi Mary, you’re welcome and so happy to hear that you’re enjoying our recipes