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© Copyright 1995-2023, Clay Irving <clay@panix.com>, Manhattan Beach, CA USA
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Recipe from: TerrXL
Servings: 4
A spicy chicken and peanut dish originating from the western Chinese province of Szechuan, an area renowned for its distinctive fiery hot cuisine. Picked this up from a friend's mom when I was living in ChongQing. Can't go wrong if you do what the locals do!
1 pound chicken thighs
10 whole red chili peppers
1 small red onion, optional
2 or 3 cloves garlic, crushed
½ piece ginger, crushed
handful of roasted peanuts, the salted kind is fine
Marinade:
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or sherry
1 egg white
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Seasoning:
1 tablespoon shaoxing wine or sherry
1 tablespoon dark vinegar, balsamic will do
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
1 scallion
Dice chicken into half inch cubes.
Mix marinade, lightly beating the egg white and pour over the chicken. Leave to stand for no more than 30 minutes.
Velvet the chicken in oil or water — Heat 2 cups of oil until hot, 450°F, in the wok or alternatively bring a large pot of water to a boil. Stir the chicken to separate, add to the oil or water, and stir again. If using oil, after about a minute, flip the chicken and cook for another minute, until white. If using water, simmer for about 2 minutes until the chicken turns white. Drain the chicken and reserve, keeping about 2 tablespoons of the oil in the wok (if you used water, you'll need 2 tablespoons of oil to finish the dish).
Tear the chilis into pieces, then soak them in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain.
Peel the onion and cut into sqaure 1 ½ inch pieces.
Heat wok until very hot (until it starts to smoke). Add the oil if you velveted your chicken in water. Add the garlic and ginger to the oil, stir for 15 seconds, then add the chilis and stir for a minute or two. Add the onions and continue to stir and flip for another minute. Add the chicken, scallion, peanuts and cook for a minute. After this, if you notice that it seems a little dry for your taste, feel free to mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with a little bit of water and pour in along with your seasoning. Give it a good quick stir (I mean it, be quick, the sugar will burn.) Serve with rice!
Note:
If you velvet the chicken in oil it is important that you do not refrigerate the chicken as it will cause the meat to toughen thus completely defeating the purpose of velveting in the first place. If you are planning to velvet and set the chicken aside, do it with water. The chicken will be ok frozen or refrigerated.