Ingredients
For chicken:
450g of chicken breasts (cut into cubes)
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1tsp light soy sauce or if available use dark soy sauce
1 tbsp cornflour(cornstarch)
1 egg white
a pinch of chinese 5 spice powder seasoning
For sauce:
1.5 tbsp of cornflour (cornstarch)
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
1,5 tbsp of white rice vinegar
2 tbsp of sugar
1/2 cup of chicken stock or water
Other ingredients:
a handful of red dried bird eye's chilies
1 tbsp of Sichuan peppercorns ground finely
1 tbsp of garlic, chopped
1 tsp of ginger, chopped
4 pieces of spring onions, sliced
1/3 cup of roasted peanuts (optional)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (divide)
Instructions
Cut chicken breast into 1/2 inch cubes. Marinade it with 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of dark or light soy sauce and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Then coat the chicken with 1.5 tbsp of cornstarch and 1 egg white. Keep mixing it until it gets to a creamy and velvety texture. Set it aside for 20 minutes.
The cornstarch and egg white combination is a technique in Chinese cuisine, known as velveting. It creates a starchy layer that can preserve the moisture of meat while cooking. Which leads to the juicy, tender meat.
Grind 1 tbsp of Sichuan peppercorns. Cut a handful of red dried chilies into short pieces or whole. Roughly diced 4 pieces of white parts of the spring onions. Prepare 1 tbsp of chopped garlic, and 1 tsp of chopped ginger.
In a bowl add 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1.5 tbsp of white rice vinegar, 2 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of cornflour and 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Mix well. Set aside for later. This is an extremely flavorful dish. The purpose of the sugar is to balance all the tanginess.
Heat your wok until it is smoking. Add a generous amount of oil. Give it a toss so the oil covers the bottom. Wait for the oil to be hot then add the chicken. Spread the meat so most pieces are touching the bottom of the wok. Do not stir and flip the meat or else it will stick to the wok immediately.
Once the chicken is cooked and you got some nice brown color. Turn off the heat and take it out.
Drizzling in a little more oil to the wok along with ground Sichuan peppercorn, red dried chilies and stir. Do not burn the garlic and ginger. Introduce the chicken back into the wok. Add the sauce mixture and stir until it thickens.
When the sauce thickens, throw in the toasted peanuts and the spring onions. Toss everything together. Taste it to adjust the flavor. Give it a final stir and you are ready to enjoy.
21 ноя 2021
