Wednesday 21 March 2012

My take on Sichuan Chicken


Sichuan chicken

So I got back from a trip and all I had were 3 chicken thighs in the freezer, an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, half a bell pepper, half a carrot, a tomato and some beans.  This is what I did:

First I sliced the vegetables and garlic – all pretty finely – the carrot in little julienne strips, same with the beans.  I like to do all the vegetables first before cutting up the meat to avoid any cross contamination.

Julienned carrots

Then I cut up the chicken into half inch or so cubes.  I put it in a bowl with a generous splosh of both soy sauce and fish sauce together with about a dessert spoonful of a hot chilli jam I had in the fridge (you could substitute any other sort of chilli sauce or even a few chilli flakes).  Then I added 2 teaspoons of Sichuan pepper and 2 teaspoons of white peppercorns ( I pounded it all up in my small mortar and pestle I use for spices) It sat there only for about 15 minutes before cooking – but you could leave it for a couple of hours in the fridge if you wanted the flavours to meld more.  If you don’t like things too peppery – maybe this isn’t the recipe for you!  Or you could halve the quantity of pepper.

So to the cooking.  Vegetable oil in the pan – then a quick fry of the garlic slices, add the meat, once it has coloured a bit, add some golden syrup or brown sugar (say 1-2 tablespoons).  Then add the other vegetable in order from hardest to softest – ie carrot and onion first followed by the beans and bell pepper  - with the tomato going in only at the last minute.  Right at the end I added about a spoonful of limoncello (a lemon liqueur which I bought at duty free) – but a bit of lemon juice or lemon zest would work just as well.


Limoncello

While this is all cooking – and it only takes about 15 minutes all up – cook some noodles or rice.  I did noodles this time.

Serve by putting the roughly drained noodles into a large bowl, add the chicken mixture, sprinkle a bit of chopped parsley (or any other fresh green herb) on top along with some crispy onion (you can buy this from Asian stores – an optional extra would be fine without it).  The photo of this dish was taken before I put the crispy onions on because I almost forgot them.  It turned out really delicious which is why I thought I would share it with you.


You might also be interested in this post on making jam (or jelly).  If so, click here

If you liked this post, it would be great if you shared it with your readers.  You just have to click on one of the buttons underneath the post.  They make it easy for you to email, blog, tweet, Facebook or Google +1. Thank you so much for reading my post. 

48 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Glad you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to comment

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  2. Thank you for your comments to my post. Your chicken recipe sounds lovely and I am copying it to try soon.

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  3. That sounds amazing, I am definitely going to have to try it.

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting on the Pineapple Pork Ribs.

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  4. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Your food looks and sounds amazing. I'll have to give this a try. I love just about anything with chili sauce. :-) I'm off to read more of your blog now.

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    1. So glad you stopped by. Hope you enjoy my posts.

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  5. Looks delicious, such great flavors in the dish, love peppery food! and I love how you finished it with limoncello!

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    1. Glad you liked it. Thanks for popping by to comment.

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  6. will definitely try this one carole...
    http://downeystummyjourney.blogspot.com.au/

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  7. Thanks for dropping by my blog, Carole :)

    I'm a vegetarian, so I can't comment on this dish - but I like your addition of lemon liqueur instead of lemon juice; I think I must do more of this stuff ... secretly, haha ;)

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    1. Sorry about sending you a link to a non vege dish. Tonight we had a little Limoncello and Prosecco cocktail - Yum - but strong!

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  8. Carole, thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. You do have a very tasty chicken dish that we would love. I chuckled when I saw you were from New Zealand. We have been talking about selling our home, putting everything in storage and spending 1/2 year in France and then the rest of the year in New Zealand. Have not been there, but my husband is a fly fisherman, and you know what that means. Maybe, we will see you someday. smiling.......

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    1. Well, how aout that? Thanks for stopping by
      Hope you enjoy the chicken and the blog

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  9. Thanks for stopping by and giving me the link to this. It looks tasty

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  10. Looks lovely, the limoncello would add a luxurious twist to a classic Chinese dish x

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    1. thanks for your comment. I tried the limoncello with some Prosecco last night - very nice but a bit strong!

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  11. Awesome use of leftovers! I have never bought limoncello... But can only imagine how much taste this adds!

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    1. Thanks for your comment. Much appreciated.

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  12. Sounds amazing, I'll need to give this a try!

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    1. Glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting

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  13. Delicious looking and wonderful dish with lots of flavors..Limoncello sounds an interesting,can imagine the flavor of this dish..will surely try this.

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  14. Delicious looking dish with lots of flavors..Limoncello sounds interesting,can imagine the flavor..will surely try this.

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  15. Thank you for linking to this in your comment! I'm always looking for new recipes and this sounds easy/delicious!

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  16. Mmmm... this looks very delicious and I love the adding of lemon liqueur. Will get one soon.
    Thank you for visiting to my blog. :)

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  17. This looks delicious. I love these sorts of demonstrations of how to cook whatever is on hand. Great job!

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  18. Limoncello is an interesting addition to your recipe. I love how you put together a tasty dish with just what you had in the frig.

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    1. Thanks. You are a star for stopping by to comment.

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  19. Hi Carole- Isn't it great when you just whip something up and it turns out great?! It looks professional and tasty. It sounds nice and peppery too. :)

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  20. That is one heck of a gourmet on the fly last minute recipe! I'm impressed! Delicious! :)

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    1. You are a star for taking the time to comment. Of course I don't post when things don't turn out that well ...

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    2. In fact I tried to do tofu last night - an abject failure!

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  21. Wow looks so beautiful! Here's my recipe for Chewy Granola Bars

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    1. thanks, Peggy Ann. I looked at it earlier today via Beth Fish.

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  22. I love this kind of meal -- putting together something fabulous with what I have on hand. Good job. Oh, and thanks for the limoncello tip. Funny that I cook with a lot of liqueurs but I'm not sure I ever reached for my limoncello. I will next time. :)

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  23. Marg, I accidentally deleted your kind comment - sorry. Am having to use my new iPad to do comments since my pc failed yesterday - hard disk error. And I don't quite know how to do things right on the iPad yet. Hopefuully, I will get a new laptop today!

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    1. Hopefully you do get you new computer soon!

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    2. The sooner the better. I shoulld't moan though I had had it for about 8 years. And I was pretty well backed up.

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  24. Looks delicious! Thanks for sharing the link. we love homemade Chinese food at our house.
    Andrea
    www.piebirds.org

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    1. I know it takes time to comment, so thank you very much.

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  25. Sounds just like the szechuan chicken I make...except I've never tried limoncello in it!

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  26. looks good! saw you on a blog hop! come visit if you get a chance

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  27. Love Limoncello good thinking for this meal.

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