Kung Pao Chicken
Chicken marinade
400 g free-range chicken breast, cubed (small pieces, larger than a peanut)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 chicken stock cube
1 large egg white
2 1/2 tbsp cornflour
Marinade
Combine the chicken, salt, chicken powder, white pepper, egg white and cornflour in a bowl and leave to marinate for 20β40 min.
Other ingredients
Vegetable oil
1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
1 tsp dried chillies
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp crushed garlic
50 g unsalted peanuts
1 tbsp Pixian chilli bean paste
60 ml chinkiang rice wine vinegar
40 g caster sugar
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 leeks, halved, cleaned and sliced into 1 cm coins
METHOD
- Pour 1 cm (depth) vegetable oil into a wok and place on a high heat.
- When hot, fry the peanuts until lightly golden, remove from wok with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen towel to drain.
- Add the chicken and fry for 2-3 mins until starting to colour (about 70% cooked); remove from wok with a slotted spoon and set aside on kitchen towel to drain.
- Pour most of the oil away (into a small heatproof bowl), leaving 2 tbsp in the wok.
- Fry the peppercorns and chillies until aromatic. Add the ginger and garlic and chilli paste. Cook until the red oil starts to separate.
- Pour in the rice vinegar and sugar and bring to simmering. Add soy sauce, followed by the chicken. Stir, then add the leeks and fry for a 4 minutes.
- Finally, add the peanuts. Stir fry for 10 seconds then remove from the heat and serve.
Yangzhou fried rice
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 leek, washed and finely chopped
1 large carrot, diced small
1/2 green pepper, diced small
1 tbsp spring onion, finely sliced
250 g cooked steamed rice (ideally cooked the day before, to dry out a little)
ΒΌ tsp sea salt
1 tsp sesame oil
METHOD
- Place the wok on a very high heat and add the oil. When it starts to smoke add the eggs and stir fry for 30 seconds, breaking up the egg into smaller pieces using a spoon. Remove to a bowl.
- Fry the leeks for 2 minutes, then add the carrots, peppers and spring onion and fry for another 2 minutes.
- Add the rice and cook for about 5 mins until the rice starts to caramelise, then return egg and add the sesame oil, fry for a minute, remove and serve.
