Kung Pao Chicken

I took chicken out of the freeze this morning with not even a clue as to what I would make for dinner. I thought about it all day and still nothing. Then, after organizing recipes and not thinking about dinner (duh, I know), I remembered that I saw a Kung Pao Chicken recipe in my notebook. So I pulled it out and I actually had most of the ingredients. Yay! So away I went.

It turned out to be a great recipe and one that I will definitely make again. :)


Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients

1 1/3 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
5 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. sherry
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/3 c. water
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1/2 c. peanuts
4 scallions, white bulbs and green tops separated, chopped
1/4 tsp. dried red-pepper flakes
1 cup broccoli
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 c. chicken stock
brown rice
romaine or other large leaf lettuce

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with 1 tbsp. of the soy sauce, t tbsp. of the sherry and 1 tbsp. cornstarch.
2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, water and the remaining 4 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tbsp. sherry and 2 tsp. cornstarch.
3. In a wok or large frying pan, heat 1 tbsp. oil over moderately high heat. Add the peanuts and stir fry until light brown, about 30 seconds. Remove from pan.
4. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp. oil. Add the the white parts of the scallions and the red pepper flakes to the pan and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.
5. Add the chicken with its marinade and cook, stirring until almost done, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic and broccoli.
6. Add the soy sauce mixture and the scallion tops and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute longer. Here I added the chicken stock and covered the pan for about 5 minutes to steam the broccoli. Stir in the peanuts.

I served mine on a bed of lettuce with brown rice. Yum!