Colorful Hot and Sour Chicken

WaterMelon's Note:

Semi-authentic Chinese dish that my BF and I love! With all the colorful vegetables, this makes a pretty dish.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 300 g boneless skinless chicken thighs or 300 g boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1/4 cup peanut oil (or other vegetable oil)
• 4 slices ginger
• 3 birds eye chiles, halved crosswise (amount depends the heat desired)
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 60 g carrots, julienned (1/4 cup)
• 1 small green pepper, julienned
• 60 g shiitake mushrooms, julienned (4 medium or 1 cup sliced)
• 1/4 cup chicken stock (approx) or 1/4 cup water (approx)

the sauce

• 1/3 cup white wine (I used Chardonnay)
• 4 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 lime, juice of
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce

Garnish

• fresh cilantro leaves
• green onion, sliced diagonally

Directions:

1. Stir cornstarch into slightly beaten egg until well combined
2. Add chicken pieces, stir to coat
3. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat until just below smoking
4. Shallow-fry the coated chicken in several batches until golden brown, turning if necessary, then remove to drain on absorbent papers
5. Leave about 2 tsp hot oil in the wok, stir fry ginger and chilli for 30sec, until fragrant
6. Add onion slices, continue to saute another 1-2mins, until onions are soft
7. Add garlic and stir fry for another minute
8. Add the carrot matchsticks, continue to cook until they're semi-tender
9. Stir in chicken pieces and saute for 1 minute
10. Add in the sauce mixture, adding chicken stock/water when necessary, depending how much sauce you like
11. Finally, add the green pepper and shitake mushrooms and cook for another minute
12. If you feel that the sauce is too thick, add more stock or water; if too thin, thicken with cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 TB cold water)
13. Garnish with fresh cilantro and/or sliced green onions before serving with jasmine rice

Reviews

[Susie D]

This was an excellent choice for my family. We loved the combination of ingredients, the colors are very pretty, and the sauce contains great flavor. I especially liked the method of coating the chicken. The egg & cornstarch really works well! The chicken was a beautiful color and lightly crunchy. DH liked that the dish has a definite hot and definite sour taste. I served this beautiful stirfry over rice and with eggrolls. Great job!