Szechuan Chicken

Ingredients

• 700g (1 ½ lbs) boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces
• FOR THE SAUCE
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 100ml (1/3 cup) chicken stock
• FOR THE MARINADE
• 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• Dry Ingredients
• 3 tbsp rice flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• FOR THE STIR FRY
• Oil for shallow frying
• 1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp spring onions (scallions)
• 1 onion, quartered and cut into small 2.5cm (1 inch) petals
• 1 red bell pepper cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) pieces
• 1 green bell pepper cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) pieces
• 1 tablespoon szechuan peppercorns, lightly crushed
• 15 small dried red Chinese or bird’s eye chillies
• 1 tsp white pepper

Steps

1. Start by preparing the sauce. Whisk all of the sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Set aside.
2. Now place the chicken pieces in a mixing bowl and add the marinade ingredients. You can cook almost immediately or allow to marinate overnight for even better results.
3. Place the dry ingredient to coat the chicken on a plate and then dust the marinated chicken pieces with the flour. Be sure to shake off any excess flour.
4. Heat about 2.5cm (1 inch) of vegetable oil in a wok and place over a medium high heat. The oil needs to reach 200c/400f before adding the chicken. If you don't have any oil thermometer. place the end of a wooden chopstick or spatula in the oil. If bubble begin to sizzle around the wood immediately, your oil is ready.
5. Cook the flour coated chicken in small batches. If you add too many pieces, it will cool the oil so don't do that.
6. Fry each batch until the chicken is lightly browned and crispy. Transfer to a rack to drain off any excess oil. This should all take about 5 – 7 minutes.
7. Pour out the oil and clean your wok with a paper towels. Then add about 1 tbps oil and fry the garlic, ginger and spring onions (scallions) for about 30 seconds.
8. Add the onions, bell peppers and szechuan peppers fry for about a minutes or until the veggies are just cooked through and still a bit crisp.
9. Sti in the dried chillies, white pepper and sauce and bring to a simmer. Then return fried chicken and to the wok and stir to coat in the sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.