Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Chickity China the Chinese Chicken

Did anyone else find that Barenaked Ladies song obnoxious or the Barenaked Ladies in general?

I found this recipe for Mandarin Chicken on a new blog I started reading today: Real Mom Kitchen (http://realmomkitchen.blogspot.com) and I had most of the ingredients around and the picture made it look pretty fabulous so I decided to make it for dinner. It was pretty good, although waaaaay too sweet-like eating a candy bar for dinner, but it definitely is pretty good and is the first time I've had Mandarin Chicken in ages as I don't think I've seen it on Chinese menus here and our stores aren't as cool as Trader Joe's to just carry it in the freezer section.
Anyway, here is the recipe, and my changes will be in parenthesis:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used about a pound of chicken tenderloins I had in the freezer)
½ tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon of garlic powder


Mandarin Sauce-
2/3 cup sugar (I would use half of this)
¼ cup soy sauce (I did this plus a few generous splashes into the wok once it was all cooking)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I just squeezed half a lemon in to the bowl)
1 teaspoon fresh garlic [minced] (I doubled this)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger [minced] (I used ground ginger, but fresh would probably be better, I'd use double this)
¼ cup water
4 teaspoons cornstarch (didn't have this, would've been very helpful as my sauce was pretty soupy)
(A dash of red chili flakes might give this some heat and make it less candy-like)

Pound chicken breasts with a mallet to an even thickness (I didn't do this) and season both sides with sugar, salt, and garlic powder. Grill chicken 4-6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink inside. Remove from grill and cut into bit sized strips. Set aside. (The browner bits were the tastier bits, so cook your chicken well on the outside)
In a bowl combine sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic and ginger. Pour into a wok or sauce pan. Heat the mixture until almost at a boil. Combine cornstarch and water. Once the sauce starts to boil add the cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened.
Add grilled chicken to the wok and coat with the sauce. Simmer until heated thoroughly. I served it over cooked rice. (I tossed in some fresh rice noodles and it was good like a stirfry)

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