This recipe is excerpted from Chris Toy’s cookbook, Stir-Fry Cookbook for Beginners, page 56. Book is currently available at Now You’re Cooking. Chris will be in the demo kitchen at Now You’re Cooking making this recipe on July 15 at 5pm on Facebook Live.
This classic Sichuan dish uses 5-spice powder, a Chinese curry mix. The five spices commonly ground into this mix are star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, fennel, and cloves. Five-spice powder can be found in the spice or international sections of some supermarkets, in all Asian markets, and online.
Ingredients
1 T cornstarch
2 T soy sauce
2 T rice wine
1/4 C honey
1 T five-spice powder
1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 T cooking oil
1 medium carrot, roll-cut into 1-in pieces
1 T crushed and chopped ginger
3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
1 medium onion, cut into 1-in pieces
1 medium red pepper, cut into 1-in pieces
4 scallions, cut into 1-in pieces
Steamed rice, for serving
1. In a large bowl, mix the cornstarch, soy sauce, wine, honey, five-spice powder, and chicken.
Prep Tip: If you use a zip-top plastic bag to marinate the chicken at room temperature, you can massage the chicken for 1 minute to increase the absorption of flavors and moisture before stir-frying it.
2. In a wok, heat the cooking oil over high heat until it just begins to smoke.
3. Add the carrot, chicken, ginger, and garlic to the wok and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
4. Add the onion and stir-fry for 1 minute.
5. Add the bell pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute.
6. Garnish with the scallions. Serve immediately over steamed rice.
