Szechuan Chicken
| Prep Time: 60 min | Serves: 4 |
| Cooking Time: 30 min | Yield: 4 servings |
Delicious and flavorful classic Chinese dish - packed with protein and vegetables! There was no nutritional info in the database for Szechuan peppercorns, which is what this recipe calls for - so I just said to use black peppercorns, which would work, but will give a different flavor to the whole dish. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 16 oz Steamed Jasmine Rice
- 1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
- 12 peppers Dried Red Chili Pepper, Chile De Arbol
- 2 tbsp Ginger Root
- 2 clove Garlic
- 5 tbsp Vintage Cooking Sherry
- 4 tsp Cornstarch
- 1/2 tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil
- 5 tsp Sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chili Paste
- 1 tbsp Distilled Vinegar
- 3 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 cup Scallions, Raw
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 cups Steamed Broccoli
- 2 cups Eggplant, Sauteed
- 2 tbsp Black Peppercorns
Directions
Make the 4 sauces – mix together separately in 4 separate bowls, they will be added one at a time to the cooking veggies and chicken:
1. Whisk together 3 T. soy sauce, 3 T. sherry, 2 tsp. sugar, 2 tsp. cornstarch. This is the marinade for the chicken.
2. Blend 1½ T. chile paste, 2 cloves garlic, 2 inches ginger – both minced or grated.
3. Whisk together 2 T. soy sauce, 2 T. sherry, 3 tsp. sugar, ½ T. sesame oil, 1 T. vinegar.
4. Whisk together 2 T. water and 2 tsp. cornstarch.
Begin putting it all together:
1. Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and marinate in sauce #1 for at least a half hour, but can be refrigerated, covered for longer or even overnight.
2. Heat your wok on high with 1 T. of vegetable oil.
3. Strain chicken off marinade, discard marinade, and add chicken to hot oil in wok all at once.
4. Stir immediately and allow chicken to cook through before stirring again. Chicken will take around 5 minutes to cook completely. Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and reserve chicken in a bowl. Return wok to heat, lowered to medium.
5. Add szechuan peppercorns and dried chiles to remaining oil in wok. Stir until fragrant - 30 seconds or so.
6. To chiles and peppercorns, add prepared veggies (in this case, broccoli and eggplant) and stir to heat throughout. Once veggies are warmed, add sauce #2 to the wok and stir to combine.
7. Once you can smell the ginger and garlic start to cook, add sauce #3 to the wok. These are the flavorful liquids. Stir to coat.
8. Finally, add the thickener, sauce #4 - stir to coat. If you want more liquid in this dish, you can add ½ c. water at this time as well. Bring to a boil, give a few final stirs, then add the chopped scallions and cover.
9. Add ½ c. cooked jasmine rice to bowl, top with Szechuan Chicken and enjoy!