Chicken the Chinese way
By Harkiran Sodhi

FOR many Indians there is little more to Chinese chicken dishes than chilly chicken, chicken Manchurian and a couple of other such commonly served dishes. These dishes commonly are then smothered in an almost similar tasting sauce which has a liberal dose of cornflour added to thicken the sauce giving the gravy a very jelly-like appearance.

Authentic Chinese dishes do not always find the chicken dishes with gravys. Many of them are dry, or then tossed with different ingredients in an almost dry consistency. Cornflour is used but sparingly, and the main aim is in trying to enhance the flavour of the chicken itself rather than masking it in a myriad of conflicting flavours.

If you are serving a noodle or rice dish which is tossed up with vegetables and/or chicken the need for a gravy based dish as an accompaniment diminishes as the rice has already got many flavours added and will not be insipid. Also the authentic Chinese cooking style which tends to enhance flavours in a subtle manner has a charm of it’s own. Today we are giving you offbeat Chinese recipes using chicken. You may not have all the ingredients mentioned in the recipe but there will be an alternative mentioned which can be used.

Chicken with cashewnuts Ingredients

Two chicken half breast pieces boiled, boned and cut into small pieces two tablespoons oil two spring onions chopped fine (regular onions can be substituted)

1 medium sized capsicum cored and diced into cubes

125 gms canned bamboo shoots, (substitute with mushrooms if needed) 125 gms of cashew nuts use unsalted variety three tablespoons dry sherry (omit it if you do not have it)

1 egg white

1 teaspoon cornflour

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Method:

Mix two tablespoons of sherry, the egg white, and cornflour in a bowl. Add in the chicken and toss it well till the chicken is well coated with the entire mixture.

In a wok or kadai heat the oil and add in the chopped spring onions (or regular onions if you are using them), and stir-fry them for a minute. Add in the chicken coated with the mixture and cook for three to five minutes. Add in all the remaining ingredients and cook for two minutes. Serve it hot accompanied with plain boiled rice or noodles or as an accompaniment with any other rice or noodle dish planned.

Crunchy chicken with sprouts

Ingredients:

375 gms or 12 oz of boiled, boned and shredded chicken breasts

Two tablespoons oil

Three to four cloves of garlic sliced fine

Two green chillies sliced

60 gms (2 oz) of fresh sprouts (these can be of any type of beans and can be sprouted at home or then bought from a store.)

Two tablespoons soy sauce

Two tablespoons chilli sauce

fresh coriander (dhania) leaves to garnish with

Method:

Heat the oil in a wok or a kadai add the garlic and fry it for 1 minute. Add the chicken and stir-fry for one minute or so. Add in the sliced green chillies and stir well. Stir in the bean sprouts, soy sauce, and chilli sauce and cook it all for two minutes. Put it into a dish and sprinkle the fresh coriander leaves over the top to garnish and serve hot.

This feature was published on October 17, 1999