Chongqing lazi ji/Peppered Chicken

I would like to thank Iris Cheng who wrote to me asking for this recipe. I hope this recipe is what you are looking for. I can see that how you can miss that "ma la" and hot spicy flavor, they are additive. At the end of our dinner, the chicken cubes were gone and the red chillies/peppers were left behind. It was a waste to thrown them away so, i blended it with shallots, garlic, ginger and belacan to make into a sambal. My daughter, Sandra, knows me too well. When she saw the sambal, she knew.

Ingredients:

1 lb skinless chicken breast/legs/thighs cut into 1 inch cubes.

1/2 cup dried chillies - washed and cut into 1 - 2 inches, drain dry

2 tbsp ground Sichuan peppercorns

1 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp cooking wine

1 tbsp chopped ginger

4 cloves of garlic -- sliced

4 stalks spring onions -- cut into 2 inch lengths

1/2 tsp sugar

Vegetable oil for deep-frying and stir-frying

Marinade :

2 tsp shaoxing rice wine

1 tsp light soya sauce

1 tsp dark soya sauce

1 tsp ground sichuan peppercorns

1 t cornstarch

2 tbsp beaten egg white

Method:

Marinate cubed chicken with the marinade for at least 1/2 hour.

Heat 2 cups oil; when oil is hot, add the chicken cubes and deep-fry until crisping round the edges. Remove the chicken and leave aside.

Tip out the bulk of the oil, leaving about 2 tbsp. behind

Add the garlic, ginger and spring onion -- stir and then add the red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. Fry for about 20 seconds, taking care not to burn the chilies.

Put the chicken back in the wok, splash on the cooking wine to the sides of hot wok and season with soy sauce, salt and sugar. Stir well to combine.

Dish out and serve hot with white rice

Serves