Chicken Chunks With Peanuts In Spicy Sauce

Total Time: 7 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1/2 cup peanuts (raw)
• 3 cups peanut oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water chestnut flour
• 4 green onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon gingerroot, minced
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 tablespoon chinese red vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili paste with garlic
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1 pinch sugar
• cornstarch paste

Recipe

• 1 preparation: trim ends off green onions and cut light green and part into 1" sections.
• 2 mix all other sauce ingredients in 2-quart saucepan.
• 3 reserve.
• 4 pull skin off breasts, then pull chicken meat from bones.
• 5 slice meat into 1" strips, then crosswise to make 1" chunks.
• 6 in bowl large enough to hold chicken, add egg to water chestnut flour.
• 7 beat mixture with a single chopstick (not an egg beater or whisk).
• 8 stir chicken pieces into egg mixture to coat thoroughly.
• 9 marinate 5 minutes.
• 10 note: water chestnut flour gives a lighter crust than cornstarch, though the latter may be substituted.
• 11 deep-frying: heat cooking oil in wok or deep-fryer to medium heat (you'll need more oil for deep-fryer).
• 12 fry peanuts until they are a light tan color; if a test peanut browns quickly, turn down heat.
• 13 remove peanuts with strainer or slotted spoon; drain on paper towel or paper bag.
• 14 reserve.
• 15 turn up heat slightly for chicken.
• 16 test a chunk first: chicken should raise to surface immediately & brown in about 2 minutes.
• 17 deep-fry coated chicken chunks until golden brown.
• 18 deep-fry no more than 8 chunks at a time.
• 19 use long chopsticks or spatula to keep pieces separate while they are frying.
• 20 remove with long chopsticks or slotted spoon.
• 21 reserve.
• 22 sauce: while deep-frying chicken, heat sauce to simmer.
• 23 add green onions & peanuts about a minute before serving.
• 24 at the last minute, add chicken pieces to sauce, mix quickly & serve.