If you’re as much a fan of Yellow Cab’s Charlie Chan chicken pasta as we are, I bet these 2 questions have crossed your mind before: Who’s Charlie Chan? And more importantly how does one recreate this sweet yet fiery bowl at home?
We can’t give a legitimate answer to where this dish gets its namesake. But what we can guarantee is that we’ve come up with the definitive Charlie Chan food hack that captures all the savory goodness of the original.
Ingredients
Sauce
- ¾ cup Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce
- ½ cup Lee Kum Kee chili bean sauce
- ½ cup Lee Kum Kee char siu sauce
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup water
- slurry (½ cup water + 1 tbsp cornstarch), to thicken
Pasta
- 500g spaghetti noodles, cooked to package directions
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- ½ cup garlic slivers
- 3 cups sliced chicken thigh fillet, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 4 cups sliced fresh shitake mushrooms
- ½ cup spring onions, sliced into 2-inch long pieces
- 1 cup greaseless peanuts
Make the sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium-high heat. Once it reaches a boil, add cornstarch slurry and stir to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat both oils in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until aromatic and light brown.
Add in chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and slightly browned.
Add shiitake mushrooms and cook for another minute. Toss in the spring onions, then add noodles and peanuts.
Pour about ¾ cup of Charlie Chan sauce in the pan, adding more to taste. Stir and toss pasta until evenly coated and ingredients are distributed. Serve hot.
