Silver Paper Chicken
Silver Paper Chicken
2 lb de-boned chicken
3 Tbsphoisin sauce
1/2 tps five-spice
1/4 cup sesame oil
3 Tbsppeanut oil plus extra for frying
1 clove garlic
6 leaves cilantro
2 Tbspflour
Cut chicken into bite-size pieces
Combine remaining ingredients & marinate chicken 2 hrs
Wrap chicken in 4 x 4-inch foil squares
Deep fry for 7 min in 375 deg F peanut oil
Serves 4 to 6
Orange Chicken
Orange Chicken
Posted by LladyRusty at recipegoldmine
com May 26, 2001
Source: Posted by Cookin’ Dad – 30 November 2000, 9:16 am – Original Date: 15 October 2000 8:52 am
My father-in-law is back in Taiwan again for two weeks after a short trip to China
In spite of him not being at home that much these past few days, I did manage to get in a few lessons
For those of you who did not read the past messages related to this topic, my father-in-law is a chef with about 50 years of experience
I can’t help but be awestruck as I watch him work in our kitchen at lightening speed in spite of his advanced age
Yesterday I made a chicken dish that is somewhat similar to orange chicken (call it that for lack of a better name)
He didn’t supervise me the whole time, but rather gave me a list of ingredients with approximate measurements
For starters, I cut up about 3 cups of chicken breast meat & set it aside
Next, I made the following sauce which is surprisingly simple, but delicious:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (approximation)
Approximately 1/4 cup water or low-sodium chicken broth
(to dilute soy sauce – otherwise too salty; I used water)
2 or 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
1/2 tps hot sauce
Note: At first I was against using so much sugar & vinegar, but my father-in-law insisted on using large amounts of near equal portions of both
Who’s to argue with 50 years of experience?
About 2 hrs prior to making this dish, I poured a little of the sauce mixture in with the breast nuggets so meat would soak up flavor
To do otherwise would not allow the sauce to deeply penetrate the meat
Yesterday, after frying my first batch of chicken, I tasted a piece & it was delicious without the sauce! After pouring enough of sauce to cover chicken pieces, I mixed in cornstarch (1/4 cup!) & let mixture sit in refrigerator
While mixture sat in refrigerator, I cut up some red & green bell peppers & green onion (total of approximately 1 cup)
Later, I beat a couple of egg whites until frothy & set aside
After removing chicken from refrigerator, I poured off sauce mixture & dipped chicken pieces in egg white (my father-in-law claims that this helps to tenderize chicken pieces – VERY IMPORTANT
Next, I mixed in at least 1/2 cup cornstarch (using large quantity – VERY IMPORTANT – & mixed with h&s until mixture became very gooey
After placing meat back in refrigerator, I heated bit of oil in wok, added 1 clove of minced garlic & sauteed bell peppers for about 3 min before adding green onions
I sauteed for another 1 – 2 min before removing from fire & adding more oil to fry chicken
After oil was hot (about 360 deg), I placed chicken pieces in oil, trying to separate them as best as possible
After frying chicken (about 1-1/2 – 2 min per piece), I drained pieces on paper towel-lined plate
Next, I added sauce to wok & heated for a minute or so before adding about 1 1/2 Tbspcornstarch mixed with equal amount of water
After stirring, I added vegetables & brought mixture to boil
Afterwards, I reduced heat & simmered until mixture started to thicken, at which point I added chicken pieces & heated for about 1 minute
This dish was served over white rice & was delicious
The flavor was tangy & sweet, nothing like anything I’ve had before
This would also be great with pork!
I made this dish without my father-in-law’s supervision because he had a bunch of err&s to run
He said I did a pretty good job, but should have added a little oil to the egg white/cornstarch mixture before frying the chicken
This would have made the nuggets crispier
Oh well, I guess experience is the best teacher
P
S
I also learned a vegetable & sauce trick which I will post in the near future
Tomorrow I will probably make a crispy beef dish with my father-in-law
This time, however, he promised to walk me through the steps instead of tell me what I should do & then disappear
I feel I have good cooking instincts, but they can only carry me so far–especially when it comes to making Chinese food (lol)!
Servings: 4
Chinese Lemon Chicken
Chinese Lemon Chicken
Posted by liz at recipegoldmine
com May 26, 2001
Source: Cookin’ Dad – 01-04-2001 08:03 am
Please excuse the delay in posting this recipe
I figure that by now everyone should be back from Christmas vacation
At any rate, most of you know that my Chinese father-in-law is an excellent chef who taught me how to make a few dishes when he visited us a few months ago
My father-in-law actually cooked a few dishes with me in the kitchen, but for most of the dishes, including this one, he simply gave me some ingredients to use & I figured out the ratios
This dish, although seemingly very simple, proved most elusive! It took four tries before I finally came up with something good
The dish has a strong lemon flavor & is slightly sweet & tangy
Hope you enjoy it
P
S
Am now working on a Szechuan Chicken dish
4 to 6 whole breast halves (skin included)
1 cup water
1/2 cup LOW SODIUM chicken broth
1/4 freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbspgranulated sugar
4 tpss ginger, finely grated (the finer the better)
1/2 tps salt**
** I decided to use a little salt instead of soy sauce I originally had in recipe
The third time I made recipe, sauce was slightly darker than I wanted it to be
Ingredients used to fry chicken
Cornstarch
Oil
Eggs
Mix sauce ingredients (everything except cornstarch, oil & eggs) at least several hrs before making this dish to allow flavors to mix
I didn’t do this the first time I made this dish & it just doesn’t taste the same! Rub some salt (to taste – between 1/4 & 1/2 tps
per breast) on the breasts so that the thicker meat on breasts will have a good flavor
If you don’t do this, you will have a tasty sauce & the meat on the surface of chicken will taste good, but inner part will be very bl&
Last time I made this I also used a bit of garlic powder (can mix in with salt about 1/4 to 1/2 tps total)
Chicken should be salted with garlic & salt mixture AT LEAST 12 hrs, preferably 24 hrs in advance to allow maximum penetration of flavors
Place a good amount of shortening or a combination of shortening & liquid vegetable oil in wok or deep fryer
Wait until you have breaded your chicken before heating shortening
Next, beat two eggs with about 1 1/2 cups water
After that, add about 2 tablespoon vegetable
oil to mixture & beat lightly
You are now ready to bread chicken breasts with cornstarch
Dip each breast in cornstarch making sure it is thoroughly covered
Lightly shake off excess cornstarch & dip in egg mixture
Allow breasts to drip excess liquid before re-dipping in cornstarch mixture
This time, you want a good coating, similar to that of crispy beef–solid coating , but not too thick
Set aside breaded breasts & heat oil
Oil should be heated to 360 deg
You do not have to be exact, but oil should be GOOD & HOT, but not so hot that the batter on chicken will have a burned off-flavor from excess temp
during frying cycle
Depending on the size of your fryer or wok, I would probably fry 2–definitely no more than 3 breasts at a time
To fry more than that would risk excess oil penetration because of a slowed oil temp
recovery
Fry breasts for about 12 min, or slightly longer if you are frying very large breasts
If you discover that breasts are browning too quickly during fry cycle, you can turn flame down after breasts have fried
for about six min
By that time, there should be a good crispy shell to protect chicken from oil penetration
Shortly after you have started frying chicken, heat up sauce & allow to simmer for a minute or so before adding about 1 1/2 Tbsp(approximation) cornstarch mixed with water
Once sauce thickens, add about 2 tablespoon hot oil & mix well
Remove sauce from fire & set aside
When fried chicken breasts are done, allow them to set for about 2 min to ensure meat closest to bone is fully cooked
Next chop each chicken breast into about 3-4 pieces & pour some of lemon sauce (to taste) over chicken
Remaining sauce can be used to dip fried chicken pieces
Chicken can be served over white rice