My recipe for this chicken and green beans stir fry is a nut free recipe using conventional supermarket ingredients. Because all the ingredients are prepared in small pieces with a light sauce, this dish is delicious served over freshly steamed rice.
What is Chow Nup Nup?
I grew up calling this dish “chow nup nup” which means stir fried small pieces in Cantonese ç‚’ç²’ç²’. At the same time, people from Hong Kong might call it “chow lup lup” as some words that start with the “n” sound are replaced with “l” when spoken informally.
Chow nup nup is traditionally stir fried with chopped yard long beans, dried radish, diced or ground pork, minced garlic, and shallots. There are other variations with the addition of other vegetables and nuts. Your family may end up loving chow nup nup. However, it’s important to remind them to check for the addition of nuts when prepared outside of your nut-free kitchen.
I prefer to cook this dish in a non-stick frying pan so that I can cook with less oil. When using nonstick cookware, I recommend silicone spatulas because the silicone material tolerates heat without scratching the pans. I usually love our All-Clad pans but hubby bought this highly rated and less expensive Tramotina pan, which has been a nice addition to our kitchen.
Use Green Beans or Yardlong Beans
Green beans, also known as string beans or snap beans, are available all year round in conventional supermarkets. If you shop at farmers markets, you will find the fresh string beans at the best prices during the summer months.
My parents used to make this dish with a similar vegetable, yardlong beans 豆角 (dao gok). The yardlong beans look like very skinny string beans that are about 24 to 30 inches in length. The “pod” seems a little bit thinner with a dark green color and a rough bumpy texture.
Both green beans and yard long beans are summer crops so they’re the best during the summer months. I like cooking with green beans for this recipe because they’re easy to buy. You can use yard long beans for this recipe instead of green beans if you want to try it.
Food Allergies and When We Need Soft Foods
Since this is a food allergy blog, I try to stay on topic. However, I can remember many moments as a food allergy mom when my sons needed softer foods. They might have had a loose tooth, an extraction, or recently adjusted orthodontic braces.
The occasional need for soft foods appears to be an on-going concern. I had a very unexpected time of dealing with major dental issues over a two year period due to menopause. Even though my dental problems are behind me, I’m still making soft foods like this dish for another family member.
When you’re managing life with food allergies with already limited food options, adding further restrictions due to dental issues or other medical issues is hard. I have a lot of recipes for chicken congee, pureed soups, Chinese-style steamed eggs, pan fried tofu, and other soft foods on my blog.
How Chow Nup Nup is easier to eat
This recipe is a softer version of your typical chicken and green bean stir fry recipes. Green beans can be chewy if they’re picked slightly late. But in this recipe they’re diced into small pieces so that they’re quick to cook and easy eat.
I also marinate the ground chicken and stir until the ground chicken looks like a paste. When I brown the marinated ground chicken, I spread it out in a hot frying pan and then use my spatula to break it up into small pieces.
The chicken pieces end up looking like diced chicken but have a softer and more tender texture compared to cooking diced chicken or ground chicken that hasn’t been stirred until it looks like a paste.
This recipe is also high in protein and veggie packed from the chicken and the green beans, which may be nutritionally helpful when your loved ones are having trouble eating.
Allergy Aware Chicken and Green Bean Stir Fry
This recipe is free of peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, fish, and sesame as written.
The main top allergens in this recipe are the soy sauce (and wheat) and oyster sauce. People with an allergy to wheat, use a gluten-free, wheat-free tamari sauce or coconut amino or my homemade soy-free soy sauce instead of soy sauce. If you are allergic to oyster sauce, then use mushroom sauce, a vegan alternative to oyster sauce.
Chow Nup Nup – Ground Chicken and Diced Green Bean Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 pound green beans trimmed and diced in 1/4 inch pieces
- 1/2 large sweet yellow onion diced (1.5 cups)
- 2 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons olive oil divided (or other neutral oil)
- 1/4 cup water
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. Add the garlic powder and cornstarch, stir in a circle until the meat looks like a paste, set aside to marinate.
- Trim and dice green beans into 1/4 inch pieces, set aside in a medium bowl. Dice half of a large onion and mince 2 cloves garlic, set aside.
- Preheat a large frying pan on medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat.
- Add the marinated ground chicken to the frying pan and use a spatula to spread the meat into a thin layer in the pan. Allow the chicken to brown for a minute and then use the spatula to break the chicken into 1/2 inch sized pieces. Stir fry until the chicken is no longer pink and looks slightly browned. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Add the onions and stir fry for 1-2 minutes until slightly translucent and fragrant. Add the minced garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the diced green beans and stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the pan is hot again.
- Add 1/4 cup water and cook the green beans for 2-3 minutes, stir and then cook for another 2-3 minutes until cooked tender crisp (or as soft as necessary).
Make and add sauce
- In the meantime, combine the sauce ingredients, 2 tablespoons water, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon oyster sauce in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- When most of the water in the pan has evaporated, stir the green beans again and add the chicken. Stir the cornstarch slurry and pour it over the chicken and green beans. Stir to combine the green beans and chicken until the chicken is heated through and the sauce thickens. You will know it's ready when the sauce has a glossy appearance.
Nutrition
Related Recipes:
One of my go-to soft-foods recipe is to make ground beef with tofu and peas. It’s like a non-spicy mapo tofu dish.
Sometimes I make wontons or potstickers and will have a little bit of leftover filling. I would use the extra filling to stir fry with rice noodle rolls, vegetables, and tofu.
I’ve been making dai bao lately. They are large steamed fluffy buns filled with ground chicken, half an egg, some chicken thigh, and Chinese sausage slices.
Soups and congee are the best when feeling under the weather or having difficulties with chewing or eating. Here’s a traditional, stovetop recipe for making Comfort in a Bowl: Rice Congee.
Corn and Egg Drop Soup is a fast and easy recipe. Our family also loves this Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Corn and Vegetables, which is a top 9 allergen free recipe.
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Do you cover the wok after adding the water, or cook the beans uncovered the whole time?
That is a good question. You can do either, the recipe as written will be more on the crunchy side with a more concentrated sauce. If I need it to cook in a hurry or want the green beans to have a softer texture, then I would cover it after adding water.