As might be evident, there isn't a lot of chicken on the menu over here. I'm highly skeptical of the quality that can be found in most convenient places and, to boot, I'm just not all that jazzed up about chicken recipes most of the time.
In these hard times, however, I'm trying to focus on big batch cooking to set us up for the week. This requires something that can be tolerated for multiple meals and something relatively easy to re-heat.
Enter Kung Pao Chicken, or, as my half-Chinese husband refers to it, Chicken with Peanuts.
First, I am able to get relatively inexpensive organic free-range chicken breasts at Trader Joe's with a little advance planning (I do not go there after 11am unless desperate). Second, the recipe is fool-proof. I found the original recipe in the Williams-Sonoma Stir Fry cookbook, and have modified it generally where the recipe calls for Western ingredients. Third, the Chinese substitute ingredients are easy to find in a good Asian store and are part of a well-stocked Chinese pantry.
This is a great recipe to make for the week. It easily doubles or triples and goes well with a large batch of rice made up on the same day. Pair with your favorite vegetable (we just steamed some broccoli and tossed it with lemon, sesame oil and fresh minced ginger).
First, I made the sauce: a combination of cornstarch (or cake flour), chicken stock, chili paste with garlic, soy sauce, Shao Hsing rice cooking wine (not sherry! always make this replacement for Westernized recipes), rice wine vinegar (this replaces red wine vinegar, you may have to adjust the sugar based on your choice of vinegar), sugar and sesame oil. I mixed well and set this aside to rest and communicate (another new family secret term).
Next, it's time to get that chicken ready. I firmly believe the marinade here is what makes the chicken texture moist and flavorful every time. The chicken sits for a bit in a combination of Shao Hsing rice cooking wine (did I say no sherry?), soy sauce, an egg white and more cornstarch.
While the chicken is resting, I minced my ginger, sliced my scallions, and got the peanuts in order. The peanuts are stir-fried in hot oil with chili flakes and set aside. A word to the wise - stick to unsalted roasted peanuts. We used honey roasted thinking that it would make little difference. Flavorwise, I was correct. However, honey roasted peanuts stick together when hot oil is added to them. It is not fun to handle later.
After cooking the marinated chicken in two batches (I made three pounds of chicken which barely fit into my 12 inch skillet all together), the chicken, peanuts, ginger and scallion were added back into the pan. After tossing these together for a minute or two, in went the sauce. Now I just cooked the sauce until it was thick "enough" which, I must admit, is different each time. I do just know it when I see it.
Now we have at least six or seven meals lined up in the fridge next to a tub of rice from the rice cooker. As I mentioned, a little vegetable side goes a long way to making this a complete meal. No more take-out for us!