HACKED CHICKEN, Hunan Style

Chinese Kitchen, Peter Griffin, 

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We've had this recipe in our family cookbook since 1972 or '73.  It's from a  New York Times article by Raymond A. Sokolov. There are a number of ingredients, but it is easy to prepare. The only adaptions We've made are the omission of monosodium glutamate and the exchange of wheat-free tamari sauce for dark soy sauce.

This appetizer recipe
serves four

• 1/2 lbs. chicken breast, boned and skinned
• 2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
• dark sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon wheat-free tamari
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons scallions, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
• 1 /12 teaspoons fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 tablespoon brown Szechwan peppercorns
• 1 cup peanut oil

Place the chicken breast in boiling water and leave it for five minutes. Remove it and pull it into narrow strips, about three inches long and one-quarter inch wide.

In one small bowl, combine the peanut butter with a tablespoon of sesame oil. Blend until smooth. Add the tamari and rice vinegar and blend.  In another small bowl, mix the cayenne pepper and the red pepper and blend to moisten with a bit of sesame oil. Add this the peanut butter mixture along with the ginger, scallions, garlic and coriander and blend well.

Heat the peanut oil to 300 degrees and fry the peppercorns for about fifteen minutes.  Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of this oil to the peanut butter mixture.  You can save the rest of the oil for other Chinese cooking adventures.

Pour the sauce over the chicken strips and mix to cover.  Serve on small, flat dishes.

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