Free Recipes: Delicious Chinese Chiken

Chengdu Chicken

(A typical Szechuan dish, named after the capital of the province)

Serves 2 by itself, or 3 - 4 as part of a multicourse meal

Ingredients:

1/2 lb chicken breasts, boned
Marinade:
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teasoon cooking wine (or sherry)
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
4 tablespoons oil
1/2 bunch spinach
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon hot bean sauce


Sauce:

1 teaspoon cooking wine (or sherry)
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon vinegar (red wine or rice vinegar)
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground Szechwan pepper

Directions:

Remove fat from chicken. Cut first into strips, then cubes. Mix together marinade ingredients. Marinate chicken for twenty minutes.
While chicken is marinading, prepare vegetables. Peel skin off ginger, cut into thin slices, and mince. Peel and cut garlic into strips (whack it first with the cleaver to make it easier to peel). Chop green onion two to three times into fine pieces. Heat wok. When wok is hot, add oil. Add spinach, and sprinkle a bit of salt on top. As soon as spinach wilts, remove and set aside.

Mix together sauce ingredients. Set aside. Mix cornstarch and water. Set aside. Heat wok again and add three tablespoons oil. Put in chicken cubes and stir-fry, stirring continually to keep the chicken from sticking.
When the chicken is approximately 80 percent cooked, move it to the side of the wok. Add the ginger, garlic, and green onion in the middle of the wok. Mix in the hot bean sauce. Stir the sauce mixture and mix in.
Stir the cornstarch and water mixture and mix in. Serve over spinach and sprinkle with ground szechuan pepper.

Chicken Wontons

Makes approximately 15 wontons

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 slice ginger, grated
250 grams (8 ounces) chicken meat, minced
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
30 wonton wrappers
Oil for stir-frying
Oil for deep-frying
Dipping sauce of your choice

Directions:

Heat wok and add oil, drizzling the oil down the sides of the wok. Stir-fry the crushed garlic, ginger and onion. Add the chicken meat and stir-fry on high heat until the chicken browns. Add the seasonings, stirring. Remove the wok from the burner and allow the mixture to cool.

Set out the wonton wrappers with a small bowl filled with water. Lay out 1 wonton wrapper, and place approximately 1 tablespoon of the chicken mixture in the middle. Dip your finger in the water and run it along the edges of the wonton wrapper to wet. Take another wonton wrapper and place it on top in a way that forms a star shape (the top wrapper looks like a diamond instead of a square). Continue with the rest of the mixture. Deep-fry the wontons a few at a time, sliding them carefully into the wok so that the oil doesn't splatter. Deep-fry until they turn golden and drain on paper towels. Serve with Sweet and Sour Sauce or the dipping sauce of your choice.

(Approximately 105 calories per wonton)