INGREDIENTS

Main ingredients

  • 1 chicken breast
  • 1 bell pepper, cut into one-inch squares
  • 4 thinly sliced scallions
  • 1/2 cup peanuts
  • 2 T vegetable oil
  • 1 t minced ginger
  • crushed chili pepper

Marinade

  • 1 T sherry
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 t corn starch

Sauce (mix all of these together)

  • 2 T soy sauce
  • 3 T water
  • 3 T sherry
  • 1 t corn starch
  • 1/2 t sugar
  • 1 t vinegar
  • 1 t sesame oil

INSTRUCTIONS

With the proper timing, this dish can be prepared in 10-15 minutes from start to finish, including chopping and cooking. Although it looks like a large number of ingredients, most of the ingredients are simple to keep on hand.

  1. Slice the chicken into thin strips
  2. Coat chicken with the ingredients listed under "Marinade".  The mixture will help seal the chicken as it is cooked to keep it moist.
  3. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan
  4. Add the chicken and brown it on all sides at high heat.
  5. Remove the chicken from the pan.
  6. Put the pan back on the stove at medium heat
  7. Add chili pepper and ginger to the pan.  If the pan is too hot, the chili pepper will scorch and generate noxious smoke.
  8. After about 30 seconds, pour in all of the ingredients which have been combined into the "Sauce".
  9. The sauce will thicken fairly quickly.  As soon as it thickens, add the chicken back in, along with the bell pepper and scallions.  Cover the pan
  10. After about 3-4 minutes, the bell pepper should be just about cooked.  Add the peanuts and cover the pan again.
  11. After about 1 more minute, the dish is ready to serve.

Consider increasing the volume of the sauce and tossing the dish with some spaghetti for "Kung Pao Spaghetti".