Sichuan Chicken

I originally made this back in the summer of '09 and took these pictures back then as well. I made this dish twice. Here is my old entry dated 09/07/09:

I made this recipe a few weeks ago, but couldn't find the Sichuan peppercorns, so I made it without it. I have to say, I like this recipe so much better w/o the peppercorns! I should've known better because I'm not even a big fan of regular black peppercorns. I thought adding the peppercorns here overpowered everything and made the dish almost bitter. Also, the first time I made this dish I actually deep fried the chicken in peanut oil and used chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts. I typically don't like to use chicken thighs in my stir frys, but thought I'd give it a try. I still didn't like it, but it is much more juicier. This time I cooked the chicken by pan frying instead of deep frying since it was so oily last time. I am disappointed in the peppercorns. Did not like it at all. Anyway, here is the original recipe I found here.

Ingredients:
1 lb skinless chicken breast/legs/thighs cut into 1 inch cubes.
1/2 cup dried chillies - washed and cut into 1 - 2 inches, drain dry
2 tbsp ground Sichuan peppercorns
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp cooking wine
1 tbsp chopped ginger
4 cloves of garlic -- sliced
4 stalks spring onions -- cut into 2 inch lengths
1/2 tsp sugar

Vegetable oil for deep-frying and stir-frying

Marinade :
2 tsp shaoxing rice wine
1 tsp light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tsp ground sichuan peppercorns
1 t cornstarch
2 tbsp beaten egg white






Method:
Marinate cubed chicken with the marinade for at least 1/2 hour.

Heat 2 cups oil; when oil is hot, add the chicken cubes and deep-fry until crisping round the edges. Remove the chicken and leave aside.

Tip out the bulk of the oil, leaving about 2 tbsp. behind

Pan-fried chicken:


Add the garlic, ginger and spring onion -- stir and then add the red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. Fry for about 20 seconds, taking care not to burn the chilies.





Put the chicken back in the wok, splash on the cooking wine to the sides of hot wok and season with soy sauce, salt and sugar. Stir well to combine.