Shanghai Hunan Chicken

The owner of the Chinese restaurant in our town was nice enough to show me how to make his Hunan chicken (my favorite!) when they sold the restaurant in December, 2012. He used a wok over a huge gas flame and whipped this up in about 3 minutes! Americans will have to make do with a saute pan, and I'm sure a stove won't cook nearly as fast as his wok on a flame. I hope I remembered most of his recipe!

• Ready In: 27 mins
• Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups  raw chicken breasts, sliced about 1/8-inch thick across the grain
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1⁄2 cup raw carrot, strips (1/8-inch thick, 1/2-inch wide, 1 to 2-inch long)
• 1⁄2 cup green pepper, chunks
• 1⁄2 cup  baby corn, drained
• 1⁄2 cup water chestnut, drained
• 1⁄2 cup bamboo shoot, drained
• 1  cup cooked rice

• Sauce

• 1 -2  teaspoon garlic paste
• 2 -3  tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1  tablespoon  chopped green onion
• 1  tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1  teaspoon sugar
• 1  teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 2  teaspoons  chopped red chili flakes in  oil (I'm sure this has a "name", but I don't know what it is called)
• 6 -8  dried hot chili peppers

Directions

1. In about 2 inches of hot oil, saute the chicken for about 1-2 minutes until no longer pink.
2. Scoop the chicken out with a slotted strainer and set aside.
3. Pour the hot oil into a container.
4. Add the 1/2 cup water and heat to boiling. Dump in all the vegetables at the same time and stir around for about 30 seconds.
5. Dip the vegetables out with a strainer. Pour off any remaining water.
6. Put the sauce ingredients into the empty pan. Heat and stir together well.
7. Add the chicken and vegetables back into the sauce and stir around until well coated. If it looks too dry, add a little more soy sauce.
8. Serve over cooked rice.