Forbidden City Chicken

3/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 small broiler chickens, split
Sesame seeds

Arrange the chicken halves skin side up in one layer in a baking pan.
In a bowl mix together the soy sauce, melted butter, curry powder, cinnamon, ginger, garlic and Tabasco sauce. Spread the mixture over the chicken and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Sprinkle sesame seeds over the chicken and bake uncovered for about 1 hour, until the chicken is golden.

Serves 4.

adminChinese2 Nov, 2007No Comments

Sesame Peanut Candy (China)

2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
4 teaspoons water
1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 1/2 cups roasted, unsalted, skinless peanuts

Combine sugar, vinegar and water in medium saucepan.
Cook over low heat, stirring just until sugar dissolves.
Cook without stirring until mixture boils.
Boil mixture without stirring until it is golden and reaches 295 degrees F to 300 degrees F or hard crack stage on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.

While sugar mixture is boiling, grease an 11 x 7-inch baking pan.
sprinkle half of the sesame seeds and all of the peanuts evenly into pan.
Pour sugar mixture over nuts in pan.
Smooth surface with the back of a greased wooden spoon.
Sprinkle with remaining sesame seeds.
Cool slightly.
While candy is still warm, cut into 2 x 1-inch pieces.
Cool completely.
Remove from pan.

Makes 2 1/2 to dozen pieces.

adminChinese26 Oct, 2007No Comments

Szechwan Chicken with Cashews

Most Szechwan cooking is hot and spicy.

2 whole chicken breasts (1 1/2 pounds)
1 egg white
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger root
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash of pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup raw cashews
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 scallions (with tops), chopped
(reserve 2 tablespoons tops)
1 large green bell pepper, cut into
1/2-inch squares
1 (4 ounce) can button mushrooms,
drained (reserve liquid)
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons chili pepper paste*
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Remove bones and skin from chicken breasts; cut chicken into 1/2-inch pieces.
This is easier to do if the chicken is partially frozen.
Mix egg white, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt, gingerroot, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and pepper in 2-quart glass bowl; stir in chicken.
Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in wok or 10-inch skillet until hot. Stir-fry cashews until light brown, about 1 minute; drain.
Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil until hot. Add chicken; stir-fry until chicken turns white, about 3 minutes. Remove chicken.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil until hot.
Add scallions, green pepper, mushrooms, hoisin sauce and chili pepper paste.
Stir-fry about 1 minute.
add chicken, chicken broth and reserved mushroom liquid; heat to boiling.
Mix water, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon soy sauce; stir into chicken mixture. Cook and stir until thickened, about 1 minute.
Stir in cashews; garnish with reserved scallion tops.

Yields 6 servings.

* 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes can be substituted.

adminChinese18 Oct, 2007No Comments

Chicken Lo Mein

Posted by bettyboop50 May 15, 2001

1/2 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 pound snap pea pods strings removed (2 cups)
6 ounces baby cut carrots cut lengthwise into
1/4 inch sticks (1 cup)
1/2 (9 ounce) package refrigerated linguine,
cut into 2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
2 teaspoons water
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 teaspoons finely chopped gingerroot
Toasted sesame seed, if desired

Cut chicken breast halves lengthwise into 2-inch pieces; cut pieces crosswise into 1/2-inch strips.

Heat 2 quarts water to boiling in 3 quart saucepan.
Add pea pods, carrots and linguine, heat to boiling.
Boil 2 to 3 minutes or until linguine is just tender, drain.

Mix cornstarch, sugar and water.
Mix broth, soy sauce, garlic and gingerroot, stir in cornstarch mixture.

Spray nonstick wok or 12-inch skillet with nonstick cooking spray, heat over medium/high heat until cooking spray starts to bubble.
Add chicken, stir fry about 2 minutes or until chicken is white.
Stir broth mixture in and stir into chicken mixture.
Stir in pea pods, carrots and linguine.
Cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seed.

5 servings

adminChinese17 Oct, 2007No Comments

Lotus Flowers (China)

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled, deveined
and finely chopped
1 (6 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained
and finely chopped
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Chinese wine or dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 egg white, beaten until stiff
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Oil (for deep frying)

Mix together the shrimp, water chestnuts, scallions, wine, ginger, salt and pepper.
Fold in the beaten egg white and the cornstarch.
Roll into balls the size of walnuts.
Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan to a temperature of 350 degrees F and fry the balls a few at a time until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Makes 12 to 15 fritters.

adminChinese13 Oct, 2007No Comments

Orange-Honey Chicken Stir Fry

Posted by wizard4 May 14, 2001

2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 slice ginger root
1 pound chicken breast (thin strips)
1/2 orange (thin half slices)

Sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 tablespoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange Juice

Garnish
4 green onions (chopped)

Combine the sauce ingredients, set aside.
Heat wok or skillet and add peanut oil.
Fry ginger root slice to season oil (30 seconds).
Remove ginger root.

Add chicken and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes until tender.
Add sauce and stir until it begins to thicken.
Add orange slices; mix well. Remove to serving dish and garnish with green onions.

Serve with rice or rice noodles.

Servings: 4

adminChinese13 Oct, 2007No Comments

Honeyed Chicken and Pineapple (China)

1 (3 pound) broiler-fryer chicken
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons grated, pared fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and
cut into thin slices
1 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon instant chicken bouillon granules
1 teaspoon sesame oil
4 scallions, cut into thin slices

Remove giblets from chicken.
Rinse chicken and cut into serving-size pieces.
Coat chicken pieces with 1/2 cup cornstarch.

Heat oil in wok over high heat until it reaches 375 degrees F. Add chicken pieces, one at a time, to hot oil (cook only 1/3 of the pieces at a time).
Cook until golden and completely cooked.
about 5 minutes.
Drain on absorbent paper.
Repeat with remaining chicken.

Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the oil out of wok.
Stir fry ginger and garlic in the oil over medium heat 1 minute.
Add drained pineapple and the sliced pepper to ginger mixture.
Stir fry over high heat 2 minutes.
Remove from wok.

Mix water and remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch.
Blend in honey, bouillon and sesame oil.
Pour mixture into wok.
Cook and stir over high heat until mixture boils and thickens.
Return chicken and pineapple-pepper mixture to wok.
Cook and stir over high heat until hot throughout.
Add scallions.
Cook and stir 1 minute longer.

Makes 4 servings.

adminChinese5 Oct, 2007No Comments

Barbecued Pork (China)

2 (12 ounce) pork tenderloins
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry red wine
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons red food coloring (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 scallion, cut in half
Scallion curls (optional)

Remove fat from meat.
In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, wine, sugar, honey, food coloring, cinnamon, garlic and onion.
Add pork, turning meat to coat completely.
Cover and let stand at room temperature 1 hour or refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally.

Drain pork, reserving marinade.
Place pork on wire rack over a baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until done, turning and basting frequently during baking.
Remove pork from oven.
Cool; cut into diagonal slices.
Garnish with Scallion Curls.

Makes about 8 appetizer servings.

adminChinese28 Sep, 2007No Comments

Oriental Spareribs

Cut in two and separate 4 1/2 to 5 pounds spareribs.
Boil for 35 minutes and drain.

Sauce
1/3 cup prepared mustard
1/3 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Mix Sauce ingredients.
Dip drained ribs into sauce.
Place in a baking pan.
Pour remaining sauce over ribs.
Cover pan; put into refrigerator overnight or at least 6 hours.
Turn ribs in pan with sauce at least once while marinating.
Do not drain.
Place pan in oven at 350 degrees F for 1 to 2 hours, turning often.

adminChinese27 Sep, 2007No Comments

Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken

Posted by liz May 26, 2001

Source: Posted by Cookin’ Dad 03-27-2001 09:33 pm

This is an excellent recipe for sweet and sour chicken.
It uses a soy sauce-based sweet and sour sauce.
I have also included a red sweet and sour sauce recipe at the bottom of the recipe if you and your family prefer that type.
Please let me know how things go.

2 large whole boneless chicken
breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
5 teaspoons ginger (GRATED EXTRA-FINE)
1 teaspoon garlic, minced (I used garlic press)
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup green onion, sliced in approximately
1/4-inch segments
2 tablespoons hot oil
2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with water for thickening sauce
Chicken nugget breading
2 cups cornstarch (approximation)
2 eggs
1 cup water (approximation)
1 tablespoon oil (approximation)

Red Chinese Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons regular prepared mustard**
1 tablespoon ginger (minced as fine as possible)
1 teaspoon garlic (minced as fine as possible)
About 3 tablespoons green onions, green part only
About 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with little more than
1 tablespoon water for thickening sauce
About 2 tablespoons hot oil (add to sauce after thickened)

** You can omit the mustard, but I personally prefer that subtle extra it adds.
No matter what you decide, you’ll like this sauce.

Several hours before cooking time, cut salt chicken (I used a little less than 1 teaspoon).
After you have salted chicken, drizzle a little water on breast chunks and mix.
Follow that with about 2 tablespoons cornstarch.

Mix cornstarch in, gently massaging it into meat with your hands.
Set in refrigerator.

A couple of hours before cooking time mix sauce ingredients together.
This includes everything EXCEPT green onion, hot oil and cornstarch.
Make sure the ginger is VERY FINELY minced or you will sacrifice some of the flavor.
This step may take extra time, but your effort will be rewarded - trust me, this sauce is yummy!!!! Set sauce aside to allow flavors to marry.

Before you heat up oil (about 3 inches deep in deepest part of wok), mix eggs, water and oil together bowl.
Place nuggets in mixture, then dip in pure cornstarch.
Make sure you have a thin, solid coating with no bald spots.
Heat oil while nuggets sit in cornstarch.
Before frying, make sure oil is piping hot (important for allowing cornstarch to achieve its full functionality).
Drop first batch of nuggets in hot oil (should see just a little smoke just before nuggets are placed in oil).
Oil temp.
for this recipe is important, because if oil is hot enough, nuggets will be slightly crispy in spite of having been fried for just 2 1/2 to 3 minutes! On the other hand,if the temp.
is too low, your nuggets may have a slightly gooey exterior.
If you have a thermometer, fry at 375 to 380 degrees F.

Remove first batch of nuggets which should be ready in no more than 3 minutes.
Unless you are using golf ball-size nuggets (lol). Drain well.
My nuggets were super tender after frying them for not quite 3 minutes Allow a minute or two for oil temp.
before frying your next, and possibly final, batch.
Also, for optimum results with different sized nuggets in same batch, put larger size nuggets in BEFORE smaller size ones.

After you are done frying and draining nuggets, pour oil out of wok and into safe container.
Allow wok to cool for a minute or so before cleaning it and then heating sauce.
When heating sauce, pour in cornstarch/water mixture within first minute or so.
Stir and, when sauce starts to thicken, add hot oil and stir well before adding green onions.
Lastly, dump chicken nuggets into wok and stir until all nuggets are coated with sauce.

Serve over white rice.

adminChinese16 Sep, 2007No Comments