Chinese cuisine is rich for delicious dishes, extravagant cooking
techniques and wise cooking tips.
The menu of Chinese restaurants
features such a wide variety of original Chinese food recipes that is
it rather difficult to choose the most tasty and popular dishes.
However, some gourmets show preference for a such chef-d'oeuvre of
Chinese food recipes as Chengdu Chicken
Chengdu Chicken is a traditional Szechuan dish and is named after the
capital of Szechuan province. It can be served both as a main course
and as a part of multidish meal. Its basic ingredient is hot bean paste
which consists of crushed chilies and fermented soybeans.
Following Chinese food recipes, to prepare Chengdu Chicken you will
need 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 bunch spinach, 1 tablespoon of hot bean
paste,1 green onion, 5 tablespoons of stir-frying vegetable oil, 2
slices of ginger, 1 teaspoon of Szechuan pepper (better if it is
freshly ground), 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil, salt, and, of course 14-16
ounces of chicken flesh.
According to Chinese food recipes, for marinade take 3 teaspoons of
cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of rice wine (dry sherry will do as well), 1
tablespoon of soy sauce, a pinch of black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of
sesame oil.
Besides this, you have to make sauce, described in Chinese food
recipes. It requires 2 teaspoons of red rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon
of rice wine (which can be easily replaced with dry sherry again), 1
1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water, 1
teaspoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.
The chicken has to be washed, deprived of fat and cut into 1-inch
cubes. Then it is placed in Chinese food recipes marinade for about 20
minutes.
While your chicken “is bathing” in zesty marinade,
you also
don't waste the precious time and prepare the sauce and vegetables. Mix
such a common ingredient of Chinese food recipes as soy sauce with
sugar, rice wine (or dry sherry) and vinegar. Prepare the cornstarch by
combining it with water in a separate bowl.
The onion is washed and chopped. Then smash the garlic, peel it and
chop it. As in many Chinese food recipes, the ginger is cut into small
pieces, and the spinach has to be washed and drained.
After that heat the wok which is often mentioned in Chinese food
recipes. When it gets hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil, the spinach and
salt. Wait until the spinach wilts and remove it from the wok.
After Chinese food recipes, you have to clean out the wok and add 4
tablespoons of oil and to stir-fry the chicken. Be careful, keep the
flesh from sticking. The meat is removed only when it is 80% cooked and
changes its color.
There should be still some oil in the wok. Stir-fry the ginger, hot
paste and garlic around 30 seconds. When this mixture becomes fragrant,
place the chicken cubes back to the wok, combining it with the Chinese
food recipes hot bean paste.
After that the meat is pushed to the sides and the sauce is added. The
dissolved cornstarch is stir-fried a little and mixed with the Chinese
food recipes sauce.
Finally, the chicken is mixed with the sauce. Stir in the sesame oil
and onion, and favor the meat with the pepper. This dish from Chinese
food recipes is served with the stir-fried spinach.
Bon appetit!
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