Hunan Chicken: A Spicy Chinese Recipe

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We Indians just love Chinese recipes. Be it chowmein or soups, we have added our own Indian tadka to almost all the Chinese dishes. However, our knowledge of Chinese recipes is often limited. Chilly Chicken or Manchurian Chicken are not the only recipes available in the Chinese cuisine. Have you ever tried Hunan Chicken? The recipe for Hunan chicken is not very complicated or bizarre. But the flavour of Hunan Chicken is considerably different from other popular Chinese recipes.

Hunan Chicken is not made with just soy sauce like Chilli Chicken. A number ingredients like chilli bean sauce, rice wine and soy are used in the recipe for preparing Hunan Chicken. That is why, this chicken recipe has a unique flavour. Traditionally, Hunan Chicken is a spicy dish. But you can alter the recipe to make Hunan Chicken less spicy for kids.

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• Chicken (boneless)- 500 grams (cut into medium sized pieces)
• Onion- 2 (cut into quarters)
• Onion greens- 6 stalks (chopped)
• Ginger- 1 inch (minced)
• Red bell pepper- 1 (diced)
• Soy sauce- 1tbsp
• Chilli bean sauce- 1tbsp
• Rice wine- 1 cup
• Brown sugar- 1tsp
• Green chillies- 4 (chopped)
• Corn flour- 1/2 cup
• Oil- 3tbsp
• Salt- as per taste

Procedure

1. Mix corn flour with a pinch of salt and 1 chopped green chilli. Add 2tbsp water and mix it up to form a thick batter.
2. Heat oil in a deep skillet. When it starts steaming, dip the pieces of chicken in the corn flour batter and place them in the skillet.
3. Deep fry the pieces of chicken in batter for at least 5-7 minutes on a low flame. When the chicken pieces become uniformly golden brown, strain them from the skillet.
4. Burn the brown sugar in the left over oil to get the burnt flavour of Hunan sauce.
5. Now add the onions to the pan and saute for another 3-4 minutes on a low flame.
6. When the onions turn brown, add minced ginger and red bell pepper. Cook for 2 minutes more.
7. Now sprinkle the onion greens and cook for another minute.
8. Meanwhile mix soy sauce, rice wine and chilli bean sauce. Pour this into the skillet.
9. Mix it up with the other ingredients and allow the sauce to bubble for 2-3 minutes.
10. Add the fried chicken; cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on a low flame. If it gets too dry, you can add half a cup of water.

Serve Hunan Chicken with Chinese fried rice or noodles.