by FrancesRenHuang
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A&M's Testing Notes:
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Expand2 chicken thighs, deboned and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (if yours are tiny, you may want to throw in 1-2 more) Ask a question about this ingredient
1/2 teaspoon beaten egg Ask a question about this ingredient
2 teaspoons cornstarch Ask a question about this ingredient
1 pinch salt Ask a question about this ingredient
1 teaspoon chinese cooking wine Ask a question about this ingredient
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce Ask a question about this ingredient
2 teaspoons brown sugar Ask a question about this ingredient
1 tablespoon chinese dark vinegar Ask a question about this ingredient
1 tablespoon cornstarch Ask a question about this ingredient
6 tablespoons of water or stock Ask a question about this ingredient
1 generous handful of peanuts Ask a question about this ingredient
2 green onions, chopped into 1-inch lengths Ask a question about this ingredient
4 garlic cloves, skin removed, smashed and chopped Ask a question about this ingredient
6 slices of ginger Ask a question about this ingredient
8 red dried chiles, chopped Ask a question about this ingredient
4 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns Ask a question about this ingredient
Mix together the marination with the meat; set aside while preparing the rest. *Can put in fridge for the day.
Ask a question about this stepMix the liquid ingredients, brown sugar and corn starch and set aside to use as the sauce for stir-frying. Heat up wok with vegetable oil until shimmering and hot, about 120 F.
Ask a question about this stepDip half of the meat into the oil and move around until half-cooked, around 2 minutes; remove with slotted spoon and drain from oil. Repeat for the other half.
Ask a question about this stepDrain off all but 2 tbsp of oil in heated wok, throw in chiles, peppercorns, garlic, ginger and spring onion; stir-fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes; add peanuts and stir-fry for another 1~2 min.
Ask a question about this stepAdd chicken cubes, stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.
Ask a question about this stepPour on reserved sauce and simmer until the dish thickens, about 3 minutes.
Ask a question about this stepGarnish with ground Sichuan peppercorn; serve with rice.
Ask a question about this stepThank you! Glad you enjoy it-- tell me how it goes!
yum! Made this last night, with forced substitutions for the ingredients I couldn't find. Very dry sherry for the Chinese wine, and a mix of balsamic and red wine vinegars for the dark vinegar. Lots of black pepper for the peppercorns. Hope my substitutions help other culturally-isolated cooks!
OMG, so good! No more chinese gong bau chicken take-out for me..I am making this at home!! Thank you so much!
Thanks...would balsamic due...better than red?? Thanks for your help it has been helpful. Take Care
Hi there !! I live in a small area with little Asian food products. I would love to make your dish but am having trouble finding the dark vinegar. Even on the Asian Grocery website there is only a dark seasoned vinegar for sale. Is this the product ?? What can be a good replacement for it? Thanks so much for your help !!
you could use any other rich color vinegar as substitute: red rice wine vinegar 红米醋, aged dark vinegar 陈醋, or dark color vinegar with chinese label on it. I hope this is helpful!
Finally made this last night. Beyond delicious! Wondering what else I might use my black vinegar for, though I'm sure I'll make this again and again.
Glad that ppl are still trying this recipe! Happy you enjoyed it.
I enjoyed this recipe! Had to make a few substitutions because I was missing Chinese Cooking wine and the vinegar. To sub I just used a basic white wine I had leftover from a dinner party and some sort of vinegar I got in Chinatown. Close enough! I was also missing the red chilis which was kind of a bummer. I added in about 4 cups of chopped broccoli which was a nice addition. Overall - highly recommended. Especially if you have all the ingredients. The chicken tenderizing bit was great!
The sauce is great for variations. Glad you optimize that to its potential!
I made this once according to the sichuanese recipe.sis i think you can make it better.GO!but i like your other recipes,thanks for sharing!
Made this last night, with some changes because I only had regular soy sauce and vinegar, only had red pepper flakes. This was so good! My husband a meat & potatoes guy, liked it and said we should have it again! So it is printed out and in my folder in the kitchen. Thanks for a tasty recipe:)
I'm happy you enjoyed it.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was terrific! I did grind the peppercorns a little in a suribachi and used four thighs - it was exactly enough for 3 of us. The sauce was perfect - a welcome change from the sickly sweet sauce found in many restaurants in the US.
Made this last night, doubled the recipe and 3 people devoured it to the sounds of "mmm mmm" and "yummo!" Very good. I have one or two questions: is the marinating process you use for the chicken called "velveting" the chicken? Also, what in the world does that little tiny bit of beaten egg do? I made a couple of changes - nothing major - added a little broccoli and, lacking Sichuan peppercorns, I used grains of paradise.
Thanks for sharing this easy and delicious recipe - a new house favorite!
Velveting. Yes. It prevents from drying out, keeping the meat tender and moist. Happy you enjoyed it.
I made this tonight. I did something along the lines of quadrupling the recipe so I can't comment on the exact proportions. I will say that it's important to grind the peppercorns before you put them in the dish. I have a lot of leftover chicken with some very annoying crunchy things in it. The flavor is good but the texture is not. It also seemed a bit high on the peppercorns but as I said my proportions may have been off.
I should also mention that I couldn't find something that was called Sichuan peppercorns in the enormous Asian market. A man who spoke English found them for me as prickly ash. According to Wikipedia they have lots of names in America including: "Szechwan pepper," "Chinese pepper," "Japanese pepper," "aniseed pepper," "Sprice pepper," "Chinese prickly-ash," "Fagara," "sansho," "Nepal pepper," "Indonesian lemon pepper."
Funny you say that. Im not a fan of peanuts while my husband loves it. So ill find it annoying to pick out the peanuts. (I secretly love biting into those chilis) Sichuan peppercorn in Chinese is called 'hua jiao' '花椒'. To avoid the cunchy numbness, sir-fry the peppercorns in low heat with oil until fragrant, discard the peppercorns, turn the heat up and continue with garlic, scallions etc. Or buy the powder, toast until fragrant and use as garnish for the extra kick. I hope that will make the next time more enjoyable! In China the using of chopsticks eliminate the necessity of removing the flavors of the dish: chills, ginger, peppercorns... Similar to why we eat fish with bones.
I'm loving this! I don't usually cook Asian, but even I have these ingredients on hand. And I have a whole industrial sized container of Sichuan peppercorns. this sounds like dinner SOON!
And congrats on the Wild Card win.
Thank you! and you have an industrial sized of Sichuan peppercorns, impressive for a person that doesn't cook asian. :)
Made this last night, and the whole family (including picky 10-year-old) loved it! My revisions:
added broccoli (sauteed along with ginger, scallions, garlic),
used less oil,
used boneless chicken breasts instead of thighs,
used Mirin cooking wine instead of Chinese cooking wine,
used rice wine vinegar instead of Chinese dark vinegar,
didn't have dried red chilies or peppercorns, so left those out but at the table we added a few drops of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce for those who wanted spice.
DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe.
Broccoli is a great add-on.
I'm happy everyone enjoyed it!
Congrats. I have saved this recipe. sounds great.
This looks so very silky.
Thank you all! I am all about adapting and substituting. Chestnuts and celery sounds yummy! I also put Wood ear fungus. Actually anything with that sauce is good :)
Walnuts would also be delish . . . . I'd cook them in 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil first, though, before doing any other stir frying. Almonds would also be tasty. Oh, this is making me hungry! I really like the suggestion of adding some celery or water chestnuts. My boys are going to love this. ;o)
Congrats and thanks again for the useful advice in the comments about shopping for the ingredients for this. We (my whole family) loves your blog, too!! ;o)
I love wildcard wins! They contain such a variety of cooking creativity. Congrats!
Congratulations on the Wildcard win! I cannot wait to make this. Sounds so yummy. CAnd thanks for posting some guidance on stocking an Asian pantry. So helpful to read your comments.
Congratulations, this sounds great!
Congratulations on the wildcard win! I am making this for dinner tonight!
OK, so my husband sat down at the table and said, wow, this smells like real Chinese food! It was fabulous! But it didn't make 4 servings--more like 2. Thanks for a great recipe!
Sorry :) My husband laughed and said this whole time I've not been feeding him enough.
An allergy to peanuts is the tragedy of my life. Is it possible to substitute cashews?
A good friend once made me a version using macadamia nuts -- it was amazing. I'm sure cashews would be great too.
Yay! I just finally wrangled all the ingredients to make this. A well-deserved wildcard!
One of my favorite take out dishes. So excited to
Make it at home!
Oh YUM - congratulations on you Wildcard win!
Congratulations! This sounds really yummy.
I am looking forward to making this very soon - it looks just wonderful. And I, too, appreciate the advice on the dark soy and vingeger shopping! Thanks.
Looks fabulous! What is "dark soy"? And, about that "Chinese dark vinegar," I have "brown rice vinegar" and "black vinegar," both purchased at an Asian grocery store. Which should I use? I cannot wait to try this!!! Thanks for posting it. ;o)
Dark soysauce is darker and thicker, contributing to a beautiful dark color and also a richer flavor. Regular soysauce is fine as well! Vinegar: chinese black vinegar is perfect. Enjoy!!
Thanks! Is there a brand of it that you like? When I go to the Asian grocer, I'm always a bit overwhelmed by the choices, with no idea which choices are better than others . . . . Thank you. ;o)
Very funny. I live in Buenos Aires so currently I don't have a lot of variety to choose from. Dark soy sauce has the word 老抽 (lao cho). My rule is to always buy soy sauce and oils in glass bottles and never to buy the cheapest one. Japanese brands are always safe to buy. Chinese brands are saltier and richer. Taiwanese brands' quality is similar to japanese brand but more or less cheaper.
FrancesRenHuang, this is the most helpful information that I have ever read on stocking my pantry at an Asian grocer! Thank you so, so much. I am indebted to you forever. (I'm not kidding.) ;o)
oh no problem! I am happy to help anytime!
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This was AMAZING, and such a good excuse to get my butt to the Asian market. I'm definitely going to try that stir fry sauce on other stuff as well. I love this site and this is the best recipe I've seen so far.