Stir-Fried Chicken in Chilli Bean Sauce
At first glance these eye-catching chile peppers look like red jalapeno. However, they have a different flavor and are less meaty than Jalapeno. Red Fresnos are great roasted and added to salsas. Try grilling them alongside your steaks or in kabobs. When roasting these they should char, blister, and become soft. Try substituting these in your favorite chile recipes.
Ingredients:
Chicken, boneless and skinless, diced into bite sized pieces, either all breast or all thigh pieces
Garlic cloves, finely chopped, 3-4
Onion, cut into wedges and petals separated, 1 medium size
Bell Peppers, chopped into large cubes, ½ large yellow pepper and ½ large green pepper
Spring Onions/Scallions ,only the green portion, tops finely chopped , middle portion cut into about an inch and a half long pieces, 3-4
Cashews, 100-150gms (I had roasted unsalted cashews so I used those. You can either roast the cashews in a preheated oven at 180C for about 5 minutes or toss around with ½ tbsp oil in the wok on low heat till pale golden.)
Oil, 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Pepper powder, to taste
Salt, to taste
Fresh Chiles, thinly sliced, as few or as many as you want (I used the fat red ones which impart flavor but don’t have any heat)
For the marinade:
Chinese 5 spice powder, ¼ tsp
Sesame Oil, ¼ tsp
Sugar, 1 tsp
Light Soy Sauce, 1 tbsp
Cornstarch, 1 tbsp
For the sauce:
Chilli Bean sauce, 2 tbsp
Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp
Light Soy Sauce, 1 tbsp
Rice Wine Vinegar, 1 tbsp
Garnish:
Fresh chillies and spring onions, reserve a few from cooking
Instructions:
Marinate the chicken with sugar, Chinese 5 spice powder, sesame oil, light soy sauce in a medium size bowl. Sprinkle with corn starch, toss to coat well and leave to marinade in the refrigerator for about half an hour to overnight. Get the chicken back to room temperature before cooking.
Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and keep aside.
Heat a large wok on high heat for about a minute.
Swirl in 1 tbsp oil and heat it till it starts to shimmer. Stir fry the marinated chicken for 3-4 minutes till done. Remove the chicken and keep aside
Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the wok. Add in the red chillies and garlic and stir fry for about 10 seconds.
Add the onions and stir fry for another 30 seconds or so.
Add the peppers and the long cut scallions. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. All vegetables should still retain some crunch.
Add the chicken back into the wok with cashews, finely chopped green onions, crushed pepper and the sauce mix. Stir fry for another minute or two till everything is coated well with sauce. Taste and add salt if required.
Top with the reserved spring onions and chiles. Serve hot.
From mmskitchenbites.blogspot.co.uk
Notes:
Chilli Bean Paste is also known as “Toban Djan”. I use the Lee Kum Kee brand which is a little more garlicky than a couple of other brands that I have tried. A really good and must have addition for your kitchen if you cook Chinese often. If you don’t, you can try substituting with Sambal Oelek or any other Asian Chilli sauce.
You can replace sugar with honey. Add honey right at final stage of tossing.