Low Sodium Chicken Chow Mein

My Aunty recently suffered a heart attack and was forced into the low sodium world. A spry 94 year old, she is used to eating what she wants when she wants it. Upon viewing the hospital’s low sodium diet infomercial Aunt Hazel sighed then lamented, rather dramatically, “No more chow mein.”

To ease her cravings I set out to whip up a low sodium version of her favorite Chinese takeout. After a quick search of the web generated no recipes, I created my own version. The key is to add lots of flavor to the broth. Herbs and vegetables add a nice dimension where salt would otherwise rule.

This recipe makes five 1 ½ cup servings which means Aunt Hazel can keep singles in her freezer to heat up whenever she gets a craving. Served with plain white rice (I cannot convince Aunt Hazel to switch to brown rice, and at her age she ought not have to) or salt free noodles, total sodium per serving estimate is 390 mg. I wanted to use less soy sauce but it needs that second tablespoon. Let me know if you think I’ve calculated wrong: I am new to this kind of watchdog cooking!

(I am not providing exact cooking times because I trust you all can figure that out. Happy eating!)

Aunt Hazel's Low Sodium Chicken Chow Mein
2-3 pounds whole chicken
Fresh herbs such as tarragon, thyme, dill, cilantro
Vegetable and sesame oil

Vegetables for stock.
2 tablespoons corn starch

1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 or 2 good sized onions, plus greens
3 celery stalks
8 ounces mushrooms
1 thumb-sized piece ginger
1 or 2 cloves garlic
Fresh cracked pepper
Vegetable and sesame oil
1 tablespoon Kikkoman Less Sodium Teriyaki
2 tablespoons Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce

Cut chicken into pieces, rub with a small bit of olive and sesame oil. Nestle chicken in roasting pan along with cut up onion, garlic, and any fresh herbs you like (I used tarragon, thyme, dill, and cilantro); roast in 350 oven until chicken is done. Cool.

Remove chicken meat from bones and skin and refrigerate. Place bones and skin in stock pot. Add onions, lots of fresh herbs, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, lime zest, vinegar or wine, any juices from the chicken, and anything else you think might make your stock tasty. Cover with lots of water and bring to nice simmer. Let it go until it has every last bit of flavor you can get from the bits. Strain and de-fat. (I came out with about 4 or 5 cups of good stock). Reduce stock to 2 cups; reserve ¼ cup broth to mix with corn starch.

Cut vegetables into nice even pieces. In batches, sauté onion, celery, peppers in oil until translucent; pepper generously. Sauté mushrooms in oil; add ginger, garlic, and 1 tablespoon Kikkoman Less Sodium Teriyaki and sauté one or two additional minutes.

Chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Mix reserved broth with corn starch.

In large pot combine vegetables, stock, chicken, and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer; add corn starch-broth. Stir a few minutes until nice a thick. Serve over rice. Add some cashews if your diet allows.