Preparation Time : 20 minutes
Cooking Time : 15 minutes
Serving : 2 members
Description
Hunan chicken . A simple stir fry with deep fried crispy chicken stripes and a combination of sauces which is spicy , sweet and tart . This dish is a perfect appetiser . I remember a Chinese street stall in v.o.c park in Coimbatore where my brother and myself used to often end up entertaining our taste buds . Till date , that has been the best Chinese food I have ever tasted . Hubby dear , does not fancy street food eating much . So my street food eating is done always in his absence . We Indians are so used to the fusion of indo – Chinese version that on my visit to china on a holiday . We were served an old fashioned dinning with a delectable spread of classic authentic Chinese meal for lunch . I was so very excited about this. It was a grand feast with the table taken by storm on a huge spread of authentic Chinese dishes .my excitement didn’t last long as the only thing served there that was liked by me was the sweet corn chicken soup and the fried rice . All the other dishes were a treat to my eyes with vibrant colours . This was an alert to me that I needed a definitive update in authentic Chinese food .
Ingredients
Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| boneless chicken stripes | 1/4 kg |
| light soy sauce | 1 1/2 teaspoon + 2 tablespoons |
| egg | 1 beaten |
| cornstarch | 1 1/2 tablespoon |
| chicken stock (at room temperature) | 1/4 cup |
| white wine or sherry | 1 1/2 tablespoon ( I just omitted this ingredient ) |
| garlic chopped | 1/2 teaspoon |
| ginger grated | 1/4 teaspoon |
| sesame oil | 3 drops |
| sugar | 1/4 teaspoon |
| white pepper | 1/4 teaspoon |
| vinegar | a splash |
| Oil | to deep fry + little to stir fry |
| onion stem chopped | 4 ( use the white and green parts) |
| Crushed red chilli flakes | to taste |
Method
- Place chicken in bowl and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of soy sauce, egg and white pepper to taste. Knead as you would dough for about 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch and knead again. Set aside.
- In another small bowl , mix together chicken stock and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.
- Add soy sauce, wine or sherry, garlic, ginger, oil, sugar, white pepper & vinegar.this is the sauce for the Hunan chicken . Set aside.
- Heat wok to a high heat. Pour 2-3 cups of oil into wok. Heat oil to deep fry . Fry chicken pieces in batches. Do not over crowd the wok or the temperature of the oil will drop.
- Cook chicken for about 3-5 minutes and then set on a rack. This will keep the chicken to remain crispy and excess oil to drip off. Repeat until all chicken is cooked.
- Remove all oil from the wok leaving 1 teaspoon of oil in the wok . Fry green onions and red chilli flakes for 30 seconds.
- Add crispy chicken and hunan sauce . Stir constantly until sauce is thickened and coats the chicken well .
- Serve hot garnished with chopped spring onion greens as a side or a starter.
