Chengdu Chicken

Submitted by tgobbi

"A delicious Szechwan chicken stir with very complex flavors. A little difficult to make but worth the effort."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 21
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

• Coating

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1⁄2 cup sliced bamboo shoots or 1/2 cup celery
• 1 small tomatoes, cut in wedges

• Seasonings

• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 scallions, cut 1 inch
• 1 tablespoon szechuan hot bean sauce (Available in Chinese groceries no substitute)

• Sauce

• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon vinegar (white or cider)
• 1⁄2 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon sugar (or less, to taste)
• 1 tablespoon ketchup (opt but very good) or 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (opt but very good)
• 1 teaspoon Chinese chili sauce (opt, if you like it very hot)
• vegetable oil
• cornstarch, mixed in
• water
• 3 -5 drops sesame oil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground roast szechuan peppercorns

directions

1. Szechuan peppercorns are available in Chinese groceries.
2. To use, put a teaspoon or two of them in a dry skillet (no oil!).
3. Toast over medium heat until they start to smoke.
4. It takes less than a minute or two.
5. Crush them with a rolling pin or in a mortar and pestle.
6. Strain the crushed peppercorns through a little mesh strainer, discard the hulls.
7. Heat wok until smoking hot.
8. Pour in 3- 4 T oil; stir fry chicken until just cooked.
9. Remove to a colander and let excess oil drain into a bowl.
10. Reheat wok; stir in seasonings.
11. As soon as you get a strong smell from the garlic, add the bamboo (or celery), stirring until heated through.
12. Stir in the sauce until it bubbles.
13. Thicken slightly with a little of the cornstarch mixture.
14. Return the chicken along with the tomato, stirring until very hot.
15. Stir in a few drops of sesame oil.
16. Sprinkle Szechwan peppercorn powder over.
17. Remove immediately to a heated serving platter.

Reviews

[jan007]

we enjoyed this spicy dish and I am giving it a 4 star. I was a bit confused with the ingredient list as the celery/bamboo shoots and tomato were listed with the coating mixture. If I hadn't read the recipe through I would have thought that they were to be mixed with the coating ingredients.

 

[James Elkins]

Ingredients aren't authentic. For dry sherry use Shaoxing wine, available in any Chinese market. (Does not taste like sherry.) For vinegar use rice vinegar. (Do not use cider vinegar.) Do not use ketchup or Worcestershire sauce. I am not a fanatic for accuracy, but why adulterate some ingredients and not others? This is a mixture of Chinese-American and Chinese.

 

[mianbao]

This didn't work well for me at all. I wanted to increase the meat, so planned to double all the other ingredients. First, I could see I didn't need all that liquid to marinate the chicken. Then, I measured out the sauce ingredients, but ended up using only about half. The rest got tossed. Even so, it was very soupy. Added to that, I don't really think the Worcestershire sauce went well with the other ingredients. Also, while I wasn't really confused by the layout of the recipe, it does look like the vegetables are part of the coating (which I would call marinade.)