Chilli Pepper Chicken

I love Chinese food, of course, when it is properly cooked. Back in my school days at the University of Illinois, Chicago, there was a small chinese restaurant in our campus that served this dish. The cook was supposedly popular and hosted TV shows on Chinese cooking. No, he did not share the recipe with me because I never asked him! With some experimenting and tips from Chinese cooking sites I created this on my own. It came out somewhat comparable to the dish at the restaurant. It is my most favorite dry chinese dish, also a super-hit at home and both me and my husband love it!

Ingredients

Chicken - Boneless - 1 lb

Corn starch - 2 tbsp

Ginger - minced

Garlic - minced

Soy Sauce - 2 tsp

Rice Vinegar - 2 tsp

Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - a fistful

Spring onions - 1/2 cup

Salt

Pepper - 1/4 tsp

Egg (optional)

Preparation

1. Cut chicken into thin bite-sized pieces. Wash and drain well. Mix chicken pieces with salt, pepper and corn starch powder. You can add egg to this mixture. This will result in hard and crispier chicken pieces, but I prefer soft pieces so I don't add egg.

2. Heat oil in a wok over high heat until very hot. It should be starting to smoke fumes. Then add the chicken mix and keep stirring for few minutes until the chicken is well cooked. Remove the chicken and set aside.

3. In the same wok add the minced ginger and garlic pieces and let fry for a few seconds. Remove and keep aside.

4. Add 1 tsp oil, dry red chillies (whole or crushed) and spring onions chopped. Stir for about half a minute, remove and keep aside.

5. While the wok is still over high heat mix all the cooked ingredients (chicken, ginger, garlic, dry red chillies, spring onions) and add soya sauce, vinegar and stir well for a couple of minutes. Now add the sesame oil. It gives a nice pungent aroma. Stir for few seconds and turn off the stove.

Remove into a bowl and serve hot with white rice.