I am very keen on Sichuan cooking, so I have been scouring the internet to find new recipes. A lot of the dishes are deep fried and coated in cornflour, so I have adapted them to stir frying to make them less fatty. In fact, I think it’s an improvement as I really don’t like cornflour in recipes. Here I use a fraction of the recommended amount! Satisfyingly hot – you can make it hotter by adding more chillies!
Kung Po chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 7 to 8 ounces each
Marinade:
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp cornflour
Sauce:
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp sugar
Other:
8 small dried red chilli peppers, sliced in half
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces
4 tbsp oil for stir-frying, or as needed
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn
1/2 cup peanuts or cashews
a few drops sesame oil
Slice the chicken into bite-size pieces and mix into marinade oil. Leave for 30 minutes.
Premix the sauce ingredients and set aside in a bowl.
Prepare the veg. Add half the oil to a wok and stir fry the chicken until translucent and 80% cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the remaining oil. When hot, add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Add the chilli peppers and the Sichuan peppercorn. Stir-fry briefly until they turn dark red.
Add the sauce to the wok. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken back into the pan. Stir in the peanuts and the spring onion. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve hot with rice and Vicky’s veg or any other steamed vegetables.
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