Chicken stir-fries are well liked, but not because they feature moist, tender, perfectly cooked pieces of flavorful chicken. In fact, the chicken in a chicken stir-fry is usually just a vehicle for the sauce or a filler that bulks up the dish—more often than not, the expectation is that the chicken in a stir-fry will be dry, tough, and tasteless.

We knew we could do better and fix chicken's bad stir-fry rap: the key is giving the chicken special treatment before heading to the stove. This recipe employs the techniques that we covered earlier in the lesson: marinating and then velveting the chicken, cooking it over high heat in batches, cooking the vegetables over high heat, and, finally, finishing with the aromatics and sauce. The result is a stir-fry with plump, tasty slices of chicken and tender-crisp vegetables in a spicy sauce that strikes a perfect savory-sweet balance.

Once you understand this basic recipe, you can substitute other vegetables and other sauces. Serve the stir-fry with steamed rice.

Total Cooking Time: 60

Preparation Time: 45

Active Cooking Time: 15

Make Ahead: Serve immediately

Yield: 4 servings

Difficulty: Easy