Kung Pao Chicken

Our daughter was in grade school when we started our "Saturday Chinese" cooking. Not adventurous, our girl, when it came to food. Well, she blew me away when this became her favorite chinese meal. Her tastes opened up quite a lot, thank goodness. I worried how she was going to survive the rest of her life on soft boiled eggs, toast, ramen and chicken.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon dry sherry
• 1  tablespoon cornstarch
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 1⁄2 lbs chicken breasts, skinned, boned, and cut in bite-size pieces
• 4  tablespoons  salad oil
• 4 -6  dried hot chili peppers
• 1⁄2 cup salted peanuts
• 1  teaspoon garlic
• 1  teaspoon ginger, minced
• 2  green onions, cut in 1-inch lengths

• COOKING SAUCE

• 2  tablespoons soy sauce
• 1  tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1  tablespoon dry sherry
• 1⁄4 cup chicken broth or 1⁄4 cup water
• 1  teaspoon  sesame oil
• 1  teaspoon  chili paste with garlic

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine sherry cornstarch, salt and pepper. Add chicken and stir to coat, then stir in 1 tbs of the oil and let stand for 15 minutes to marinate.
2. Prepare cooking sauce and set aside.
3. Heat a wok over medium heat. When pan is hot, add 1 tbs of the oil.
4. Add the whole peppers and peanuts and cook, stirring, until peppers just begin to char. (If peppers become completely black, discard and start again with new peppers and peanuts). Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Add remaining 2 tbs oil to pan and increase heat to high. When oil begins to heat, Add garlic and ginger. Stir one, then add chicken and stir-fry until chicken is opaque (about 3 minutes). Add peppers , peanuts and onion to pan. Stir cooking sauce, add to pan, and cook, stirring, until sauce bubbles and thickens.