Tony's Kung Pao Chicken

This is somewhat of a signature dish for my family. My Dad perfected the recipe over the years and it is by far one of our favorite meals. It is more than a meal, it is an experience - If you have had it, you know what I'm talking about! It is very delicious and worth the sweat and tears involved in the chili pepper process. It is not worth leaving them out - the kick is what makes it good, and memorable. Keep in mind that my kids eat the chicken, so it is not that bad. If you are a sauce person I would recommend increasing the sauce by half. You can find the dried peppers in the Mexican aisle of the grocery store and the Szechwan peppercorns at Asian markets. You can buy them whole, then toast and grind enough for a few batches.

The prep work takes a little time, but the stir-frying goes pretty quickly.

Cut 4-5 chicken breasts into 1/2 inch cubes/bite size pieces

marinate one hour with 4-5 Tbsp soy sauce

(For even more tender chicken add an egg-white and 1 tbsp corn starch to the marinate)

grate 1Tbsp fresh garlic

grate 1Tbsp fresh ginger root

Cut 6-12 green onions into 1/2" pieces

Cut 1-2 Yellow onions into fairly large pieces and separate them (~1 inch)

Cut 10-20 dried hot red peppers (chilis japones or chile de arbol) into 2-3 pieces each, while shaking out seeds

1/2 tsp of ground Szechwan peppercorns

1 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts (Planters' brand recommended)

Sauce:

5 Tbsp soy sauce

2.5 Tbsp white or rice vinegar

2.5 Tbsp sherry

1 tsp sesame oil

3 Tbsp sugar

dash salt

1 Tbsp corn starch

Mix well

Heat 1-2 Tbsp peanut oil in wok at high flame. (It's tough to use a wok on an electric stove). Add chicken and half of garlic and ginger and stir fry until just cooked through. Take out and set aside.

This next part is where you want to turn on any vents or fans in the kitchen, and possibly open some windows. You might want to remove small children from the room!

Heat 1-2 Tbsp peanut oil in wok at high flame. Add chilies and peppercorns and cook while stirring until peppers are black (~1 minute). Add remaining garlic and ginger, then add chicken. Add peanuts and stir fry 1 minute. Add yellow onions and stir fry 1 minute. Add green onions and stir fry one more minute. Add sauce, let boil, and stir occasionally as the corn starch thickens (~1 -2 minutes).

Serve with steamed rice. To quote my Dad, "Don't eat the chilis with the first bite, but they're great after that!" The jury is still out on that one. . .