It's not my fault

[madbaker]

I blame viking_food_guy, who mentioned a really good-sounding recipe and then revealed the cookbook. Which the SF library had, so I could test-drive. I'm not going to buy this cookbook... but I may try to check it out a few more times to try a couple recipes.

This week's Resolution Recipe: Kung Pao Chicken.

2 boneless chicken breasts, 2/3 lb total
3 cloves garlic and an equivalent amount of fresh ginger (Ha! I used... more. Of both.)
5 scallions
2 Tbsp peanut oil
generous handful dried red chiles, at least 10
1 tsp whole Sichuan pepper
2/3 cup roasted unsalted peanuts

marinade:
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine or sherry
2 1/4 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water

sauce:
3 tsp sugar
1 1/8 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
3 tsp black Chinese vinegar (I didn't have any and used rice... which was probably too light.)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp chicken stock or water

Cut the chicken evenly into 1/2" strips and then into cubes. Place in a small bowl and mix in the marinade ingredients.

Peel and thinly slice the garlic and ginger, and chop the scallions into chunks as long as their diameter to match the chicken cubes. Snap the chiles in half or in 2" sections.

Combine sauce in a small bowl. If you dip your finger in, you can taste the sweet-sour base of the gong bao flavor.

Season the wok, then add 2 Tbsp oil and heat over a high flame. When the oil is hot but not yet smoking, add the chiles and stir-fry briefly until they are crisp and the oil is spicy and fragrant. Take care not to burn the spices.

Quickly add the chicken and fry over a high flame, stirring constantly. As soon as the chicken cubes have separated, add the garlic, ginger, and scallions and continue to stir-fry until the meat is cooked through. Give the sauce a stir and add it to the wok, continuing to stir and toss. As soon as the sauce has become thick and shiny, add the peanuts, stir them in, and serve over rice.

What worked: Excellent. The wife commented that it tasted like what Chinese food is supposed to taste like. Spicy (I pre-emptively grabbed the Kleenex box) but not so much that it burned on the way down. Not as much sauce as you get in a restaurant, but that's presumably more authentic.

What didn't: I only have dark soy sauce. I guess maybe it evened out with not having dark vinegar? It would have gone brilliantly with some sauteed bok choy or steamed broccoli.

Will I make it again? Not immediately, but it will go into the rotation.

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Hunh - looks like Fuchsia Dunlop's recipe. I have all her books, if you want another source for borrowing. She is frantically authentic - first Westerner to train in the classic Szechuan cookery school, and possibly also the first woman. Her memoir of that time - Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper - is well worth reading. Not least because it also has recipes, but it's huge fun.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Well spotted!