Gung Bao Chicken With Dry Chillies

This is one of my favourite dish to make and also a quick one if you want to whip a meal in less than 30mins without fail. Back when I was still living in Perth, theres this one chinese restaurant located in Kardinya, Perth near my house where I reckoned they served the best Gung Bao Dry Chilly Squid... yummm my favourite, very thick black sauce and I liked to asked for my Gung Bao dish to be cook extra spicy... and since cleaning squid is not really my fancy, I did this version in chicken instead.

Some interesting facts about this dishes...(that you might like to know)

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History:

Gung bao dishes are traditionally attributed to the private kitchen of a certain Duke of Bao in ancient Sichuan, whose personal chef was reigning master of gourmet cuisine in his time. It involves first scorching dried red chillies in searing hot oil until they are almost black, then tossing in the main ingredients to 'explode-fry' (bao chao) them quickly in pungent hot oil, and finishing it all off with a savoury sauce.

Gung Bao Chicken - serves 4

Ingredients:

* 1/2 kg of Chicken meat (thigh or breast fillet) - cut in cubes

* 10 dry red chillies (soaked first before cooking)

* 3 cloves garlic (minced)

* 6-8 slices ginger (thinly sliced)

* 3 Spring onion leaves (cut about 4cm)

* 2 T vegetable oil

* crushed peppercorn (about 10 round pieces)

Marinade for Chicken meat - 20mins

* 1 T chinese wine or mirin
* 1 t soy sauce
* 1 t sesame seed oil
* 1/2 t sugar
* 1/2 t corn starch (dissolved in 1 T water)


Sauce to mix:

* 3 T sweet thick soy sauce (thick caramel sauce)
* 1 t white vinegar
* 1 T chinese wine or mirin
* 1 t sesame seed oil
* 1 t salt
* 1 t cornflour dissolved in 1/4 cup water


METHOD:-

1) Place chicken in bowl and pour marinade ingredients over. Mix well with finger (or spoon if you're too grossed out) and leave for 20mins covered in fridge
2) Combine 'sauce to mix' ingredients in bowl and mix well.
3) Heat oil until hot, fry dry chillies, peppercorn, garlic and ginger for 1-2 minutes or until slightly browned.
4) Add chicken and fry quickly until browned/cooked (about 3-5 mins)
5) Add sauce to mix until even and cover with lids. Cooked until sauce is marinade well over chicken.
6) Add spring onion last and served over warm cooked white rice... hmmm.. enjoy!!!



Ps: Dont be alarmed by the long list of ingredients, trust me, its easier than it looked like on writing..!!