The sauce is whisked before anything is heated. Once the wok is going there is no time to measure — the longest step in the pan is three minutes.
Nothing is served under it. There is no rice and no noodles, which makes the zucchini the other half of the dish rather than a vegetable alongside a starch.
Why This Recipe Works
- Whisking the sauce first means the cornstarch is already dispersed when it hits a hot pan.
- High heat browns the chicken instead of drawing water out of it.
- Cooking the chicken and the zucchini separately keeps the zucchini from steaming in meat juices.
- Two to three minutes is long enough to take the raw edge off a thick half-moon and short enough to keep it firm.
- Thirty seconds is all the aromatics need before the liquid goes in.
Ingredient Notes
- Zucchini
- Two medium, cut into thick half-moons. Thick is deliberate — thin coins would go soft in the two to three minutes this recipe gives them.
- Oyster sauce
- A tablespoon, alongside two of soy. It is where most of the gloss and the savoury weight in the glaze comes from.
- Cornstarch slurry
- A teaspoon in two tablespoons of water. Enough to make the sauce cling and shine, not enough to thicken it into a gravy.
- Fresh ginger
- A tablespoon grated, into the pan for thirty seconds. Grated rather than sliced, so it disperses through the glaze.
How to Make It
Whisk the sauce first
Whisk soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and cornstarch mixture.
Chicken on high heat, to 165F
Heat oil in a wok or wide skillet over high heat. Stir-fry chicken until browned and 165 degrees Fahrenheit; transfer.
Zucchini two to three minutes, then aromatics
Add zucchini and cook 2 to 3 minutes so it stays firm and green. Add ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes for 30 seconds.
Everything back, sauce in
Return chicken and pour in sauce. Toss 1 to 2 minutes until everything is coated in a thin glossy brown glaze.
Scallions, and no starch
Finish with scallions. Serve without rice or noodles.
What Makes the Glaze Thin
Five things are whisked together in step 1, before the wok is even lit. The proportions below are the difference between a THIN GLOSSY BROWN GLAZE and the thick sticky sauce a stir-fry usually ends up wearing. Shares are drawn from the measures for the bar only.
- Low-sodium soy sauce2 tbsp
- Oyster sauce1 tbsp
- Cornstarch slurry (1 tsp in 2 tbsp water)2 tbsp + 1 tsp
- Rice vinegar1 tsp
- Honey1 tsp
The bar's largest bar is mostly WATER: a single teaspoon of cornstarch carried in two tablespoons of it. That is what makes the sauce cling and shine without setting - the starch is there for gloss, not for body. Honey is a teaspoon against three tablespoons of soy and oyster sauce, so this glaze reads savoury rather than sweet. And the sauce is only in the pan for the 1 to 2 minutes of tossing at the end; there is no cream because there is no dairy in the recipe at all.
Success Tips
- Have the sauce whisked and the aromatics ready before the pan is hot; nothing here waits.
- Cook the chicken and the zucchini in separate rounds so both brown rather than steam.
- Toss for one to two minutes once the sauce is in — longer and the glaze thickens past glossy.
Serving Ideas
Four servings in white bowls, the chicken pieces and half-moon zucchini tossed in the glossy brown glaze with red pepper flakes, sliced scallion and grated ginger and garlic through it. No rice, no noodles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I serve this over rice?
Not on this plate — step 5 says to serve it without rice or noodles. The bowl is chicken and zucchini in the glaze.
Why cut the zucchini so thick?
Because it is only in the pan for two to three minutes and is meant to stay firm and green. Thin slices would soften and give up water into the sauce.
How is this different from the honey sesame chicken?
That one is battered, fried and served over rice, with no vegetable in it. This is unbattered stir-fried chicken with zucchini as half the bowl and no starch under it.
