Kung Pao Chicken

Woke up to a stormy day and feeling horrible.  Can't catch my breath.  We decided to have Kung Pao Chicken for dinner.  This recipe is from my mom and is for 3 large servings.  I went ahead and made the portions as listed and kept some for leftovers.  We've had this before, though I've never made it.  Because I was feeling really ill today, Peter took care of it with me supervising :D.  He appreciated it so much, lol.


Ingredients
 
-3 1/2 tsp cornstarch, divided
-5 tsp soy sauce, divided
-5 tsp dry sherry, divided
-1/4 tsp salt
-3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
-1 Tbl red wine vinegar
-2 Tbl chicken broth or water
-1 1/2 tsp sugar
-3 Tbl vegetable oil, divided 
-1/3 cup salted peanuts
-6 to 8 small dried hot chili peppers
-1 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
-2 green onions with tops, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
-additional green onion and dried hot chili pepper for garnish
 
Instructions

1 - For marinade, combine 2 tsp cornstarch, 2 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp sherry and salt in large bowl; mix well. Add chicken;stir to coat well. Let stand 30 minutes.
2 - Combine remaining 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch, 3 tsp soy sauce, 3 tsp sherry, vinegar, chicken broth and sugar in small bowl; mix well. Set aside
3 - Heat 1 Tbl oil in wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add peanuts; cook and stir until lightly toasted. Remove peanuts from wok; set aside. Heat remaining 2 Tbl oil in wok over medium heat. Add chili peppers; stir fry until peppers just begin to char, about 1 minute.
4 - Increase heat to high. Add chicken mixture; stir fry 2 minutes. Add ginger; stir fry until chicken is no longer pink in center; about 1 minute. Add peanuts and onions; stir fry 1 minute. Stir cornstarch mixture; add to wok. Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens. Garnish, if desired.

Let's see... the changes made were; water was used in place of sherry, rice wine vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, and I only used 2 thai peppers instead of 6 chili peppers. We had brown rice and some canned veggies on the side.

All in all I'd say this was very high up on the taste scale! It's an easy meal but expect to have to clean up a couple bowls, a wok and your cutting board so I wouldn't put this on a day when you want to avoid dishes.

*****