Another Kung Pao Chicken (Gluten-Free)

Ingredients

Marinate

• 1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 reasonably sized breasts)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon rice wine (Shao Hsing wine, rice wine, or dry sherry)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (gluten-free)

Veggies

• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 medium cucumber
• 1 medium red onion
• 5 stalks green onions

Sauce

• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce (I recommend Homemade Hoisin Sauce if you have trouble finding gluten-free hoisin sauce at the store)
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce (gluten-free)
• 3 tablespoons rice wine (Shao Hsing wine, rice wine, or dry sherry)
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or honey or white sugar)
• 2 tablespoons chicken stock (or a small pinch chicken stock powder plus 2 tablespoons water)
• 2 dried red chili peppers
• 1 tablespoon szechuan peppercorns

Stir Fry

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts (unsalted or not)
• 1 inch knob ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 5 dried red chili peppers
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

Directions

1. 1

   Dice chicken into 1-inch pieces. Place the chicken cubes, oil, cornstarch, wine, and soy sauce in a bag and give a quick toss before placing in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to marinate.

2. 2

   While the chicken is marinating, dice bell pepper and cucumber into 1/2-inch squares, dice the red onion, and chop the green onions into 1/2-inch pieces.

3. 3

   Mince the garlic and grate the ginger; set aside.

4. 4

   In a wok or any suitably large frying pan, dry-roast the dried red peppers and peppercorns until they release their aroma; set aside.

5. 5

   In a blender or food processor, combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar, and chicken stock. Toss in the roasted peppercorns and 2 dried peppers and puree until no big chunks of the dried red pepper remain and the peppercorns are pulverized. If you don't have a blender or food processor or if you want to be more thorough, crush the peppers and peppercorns with a mortar and pestle, then just whisk together with the sauce in a small bowl or use the blender anyway.

6. 6

   In the same pan as before, heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil over high heat (smoking hot really) and dump the contents of the chicken bag into the wok and stir fry until it has just cooked through.

7. 7

   Remove chicken from the pan, leaving the hot oil behind, and set aside. You could also fry the peanuts until they achieve a darker brown hue (especially if you only have unroasted peanuts) but I didn't bother.

8. 8

   In the same oil, sauté the cucumber, onion, green onion, and red bell pepper for about 4 minutes over high heat; just to remove their rawness while still retaining their crunchiness. If they start to release liquid, stop cooking and drain them right away.

9. 9

   In the same oil, sauté the ginger and garlic for 30 seconds.

10. 10

    Add contents of the blender (the sauce) and bring to a boil. Keep it at a boil until it has reduced to a thick syrup-like consistency.

11. 11

    Return the cooked chicken to the wok and add the peanuts, the remaining 5 dried peppers, and the cooked vegetables and toss to heat the chicken through and coat with sauce.

12. 12

    Transfer to your serving plate and drizzle with sesame oil. Serve over a bed of rice.