Peanut Sauce Chicken

Confession time.  I realize this will sound odd to most people but I must admit that I do not like peanut butter.  I love lightly salted dry roasted peanuts, but do not like raw peanuts or (gasp) peanut butter.  That being said I do adore this dish.  With my known aversion to peanut butter I cannot remember why I tried this initially, but now it is a family favorite.  Oh and for the record I do like peanut satay (which this is slightly reminiscent) and Reese's peanut butter cups and Reese's Pieces, but not Peanut Butter M&M's.  Weird I know...

Peanut Sauce Chicken

Ingredients

 2 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1 Tbsp coconut or olive oil

1/2 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 C peanut butter 

1 C milk

1/2 C soy sauce* 

1/3 C brown sugar

1/4 C cooking sherry

6 dashes red pepper sauce

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste

1/4 C chopped peanuts 

Garnish:

chopped peanuts

green onion

red pepper flakes

Directions

Cook the chicken in a large skillet in the oil until lightly browned.

Add the onion and garlic and cook another couple of minutes.

Remove the chicken, onion and garlic from the pan.

If you have some chicken browning stuck to the pan just add a bit of the milk and scrape off the chicken.  This add a lot of rich flavor to your sauce. 

Add the rest of the milk, peanut butter, and soy sauce.

Stir constantly until well blended and smooth. 

Add the brown sugar, sherry, pepper sauce and pepper flakes and 1/4 C peanuts.

Stir until smooth.
Return chicken, onion and garlic mixture to the pan.

Cook on low, stirring occasionally until the sauce begins to thicken.

Cook about five more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over rice or oriental noodles.  

Garnish with more chopped peanuts, green onion and red pepper flakes for a festive flair.

Tips and Hints 

• You can use creamy or chunky peanut butter depending on your preference.  
• *To make this gluten free use La Choy or another brand of soy sauce that does not contain wheat.  These are a bit tricky to find, but are out there if you look.
• If you are really timid you can cut down on the red pepper, but I'd say to leave a bit in, the slight kick is awesome.
• If the dish is too salty go for a lower sodium soy sauce or peanut butter.

Orange Chicken

Panda Express is one our favorite places to go for a family culinary treat. The only thing we ever order is Orange Chicken. This recipe is not a Panda clone,it is a bit more sweet and a touch spicier, but has no mystery ingredients.

Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

Sauce
3 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons orange zest
2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Chicken
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

oil for frying

1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Directions:

Pour water, orange juice, lemon juice, vinegar and soy sauce into a sauce pan heat on medium-high.
Stir in orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, onion and red pepper flakes.
Bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and cool about 15 minutes.
Put cut up chicken in a gallon size resealable plastic bag, add a 1 - 2 cups cooled sauce. Reserve remaining sauce.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours, overnight recommended.
Mix the flour, salt and pepper together, put in a large bowl.
Lift chicken out of sauce with a slotted spoon and add to flour mix, coat thoroughly.
Discard the marinade.
Fry chicken until golden
Place fried chicken into a baking dish and bake at 325 about 20 minutes until really crispy and thoroughly cooked (optional step)
Mix cornstarch and water together
Add cornstarch mixture to remaining sauce and heat until thick and bubbly.
Add chicken and simmer on low, for about 5 minutes.

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Tips and Hints

• Easy tip for coating chicken: Put the flour in either a zip-lock bag or bowl with a tight fitting lid. Put the chicken in the container and shake.


• If you like more mild food cut the amount of red pepper flakes used.

General Tso's Chicken

We love Chinese food at our house. General Tso's chicken with its slightly sweet, slightly spicy, slightly tangy sauce is a favorite. This version, though a bit of work is fantastic!

General Tso's Chicken

Ingredients:

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks

Cornstarch Batter
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce*
1 cup cornstarch
water (as needed)

Sauce
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
5-7 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce*
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup cooking sherry or white cooking wine
1 can (14.5 ounces) chicken broth
2 Tablespoons red pepper flakes

4 green onions, chopped

Oil for frying

Directions:

Mix sauce ingredient together, cover and set inside fridge until ready to use.
Beat the egg well, add the soy sauce and cornstarch, mix well. If it too solid add a tablespoon of water at a time until the batter is thick and half-way between a solid and a liquid. (If you ever made cornstarch oobleck as a child this is the consistancy you need). This mixture seems strange, but trust me it will work.
Heat oil to 350 degrees.
Add some of the chicken to the batter and stir the pieces into the batter.
Using a fork lift ONE piece at a time out of the batter and allow the excess to drip off.
Place chicken into the hot oil one piece at a time and allow to cook until crispy.
Remove from oil and drain on paper towel, continue until all the chicken is cooked.
In a separate skillet or large wok heat a small amount of oil and add the green onion, fry a minute or two.
Mix the sauce ingredients until smooth add to the hot pan and cook until thick, stirring constantly.
Sauce should be the consistancy you would get if you ordered this in a restauant, if it gets too thick add a bit of water.
Add chicken to sauce and stir until all chicken is coated and the sauce is thick and bubbly.
Serve over hot rice.

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Tips and Hints

• Be sure the chicken in coooked through when cooking in the oil.


• If you like this less spicy add fewer pepper flakes, more spicy add a bit more.


• I used a deep fryer (similar to a fry daddy) to cook the chicken with excellent results


• As the sauce cools it tends to gel and is not as good rewarmed. Not to worry though, as tasty as this is, you probably won't have leftovers.

• *LaChoy is a gluten free soy sauce.  You can find other gluten free soys if you look.  Tamari is also a great substitute to make this gluten free. 

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

My Mother served a mission in Taiwan and has a very good friend, Mazie, from that country. As a child I enjoyed some of Mazie's authentic Chinese food. This Beef and Broccoli stir fried and served over wet chow mein noodles was one of my favorites.

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Ingredients:
1 - 2 pounds beef (roast or other nice, but not too expensive cut)
1 pound broccoli florets
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons oil (approx)
1 handful Chinese style chow mein noodles (about 1/2 pound)

Sauce for Noodles: (optional)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Directions:
slice beef into thin strips cutting across the "grain" of the meat
sprinkle with cornstarch and pour soy sauce over it.
Mix well until the sauce and cornstarch form a paste that coats the meat.
Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. The cornstarch paste helps tenderize the meat so soaking longer is good. I usually marinate overnight.
In a large pot heat water to boiling and add noodles, cooking to desired consistency
Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan. Non stick works well. Stir the meat with the cornstarch and soy sauce paste well and add to the heated oil.
Cook, stirring frequently until mostly cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
Add broccoli to pan and stir-fry adding water as needed until almost tender. Add meat back into the pan and continue to cook until both are done.

Serve over hot chow mein noodles.
If you want to make a sauce for the noodles mix the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan over low heat until slightly thickened. Stir into noodles before topping with the beef and broccoli

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Tips and Hints

• Cutting the beef across the grain makes it more tender.

• If you can't find chow mein noodles you may substitute spaghetti noodles or rice.

Kung Pao Chicken

Our family loves Chinese food and spicy food so Kung Pao is a favorite. James made it a few times before leaving for a mission to Guatemala. Unfortunately I don't know what happened to the recipe he used so when we got in the mood for it I had to search online. I found a couple that looked promising so I combined, adapted and added a touch or two of my own and came up with a version my family really enjoyed!

Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients:

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Marinade:

1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 Tablespoons soy sauce*
4 Tablespoon white cooking wine
2 Tablespoon rice vinegar

4-5 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon olive oil


Sauce:

4 Tablespoons soy sauce*
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons white cooking wine
1 Tablespoon hot chili paste
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons brown sugar
4 green onions chopped

1/2 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
dried red pepper pods

Directions:
Mix the ingredients for the marinade and add the chicken, mix well to cover thoroughly cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes.

While chicken is marinating mix the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

Lift from marinade with a slotted spoon, place in a medium size bowl and sprinkle with the cornstarch stirring until a thin paste covers the chicken.

Heat the oil in a wok** or sturdy pot, add the chicken in small batches and cook until no longer pink and chicken pieces are a bit crispy. Remove cooked chicken from wok as you cook and before adding more. 

 Remove chicken from wok. The cornstarch mixture may stick to the wok in some places, scrape off excess and discard, some will incorporate into sauce.

Add sauce ingredients to hot wok and heat to a slow simmer. Add chicken back into the sauce mixture and mix well to coat. Add peanuts and red pepper pods to taste.
Serve over hot oriental noodles or rice.

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Tips and Hints

• I am not a big fan of sesame oil, if you like it you could replace the olive oil and use only sesame.

• Be careful with the red pepper pods. Some tend to be very hot and a few can go a long way.

• You can get the small pods at an asian specialty store and they can be a bit pricey. I've seen some that are a bit larger in most grocery stores in the Mexican section for a much better price.

• *LaChoy is a gluten free soy sauce.  There are others out there as well, just make sure you keep looking.

** For best results use a real wok.  Trust me, it makes a huge difference