1 lb chicken breast, boned
1 cut into 1 cubes
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp cold water
1 cornstarch
1/4 tsp garlic salt
4 dried red chiles
1 or more to taste
1 tbsp white wine or sherry
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1 oil for deep frying
1 tsp chopped peeled ginger root
1/2 cup peanuts
Directions
Combine chicken, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, cold water,
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch and garlic salt in bowl.
Stir evenly in one direction and let marinate 30
minutes. Remove tips and seeds from chiles, then cut
in 1-inch pieces. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons soy
sauce, wine, sugar, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, salt and
sesame oil in small bowl. Heat 2 to 3 inches oil in
wok to 400øF. Add chicken and fry 30 seconds. Remove
chicken and drain off all but 2 tablespoons oil. Heat
oil and fry chiles until black. Add ginger root and
chicken, stirring and tossing together. Add soy-wine
mixture and cook, stirring, just until thickened.
Remove from heat and sprinkle with nuts. 1992 The Los
Angeles Times
Servings: 4 servings
Kung Pao Chi (Chicken With Chilies & Nuts) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Asian; Chicken; Chili; Chinese; Nut
The History of Recipes
Recipes as an idea can be traced way back into history, certainly as far into history as ancient Egypt, and possibly even further. Interesting though that is, generally, these ancient recipes were just very simple hieroglyphic instructions for meal preparation.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe in existence, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are some tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who drank it feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, there were a couple of interesting recipe books which date from the 1300s - a recipe book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another called `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, these two books are unconnected to the curry that we all know today, but rather descriptions of the types of food prepared by the chefs of the wealthy. Later on, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought us many spices and herbs from Arab cooking, such as coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new culinary ideas led to an eruption in manuscripts on cooking, most of which still exist in academic collections. Over the next few hundred years, the rich and powerful families of Europe competed with each other to lay on the most exotic meals, and as a consequence, cooks and their recipes were highly sought after. However, it was during the 19th century that cooking and recipe books really came of age. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, spent years to assembling, verifying, and writing down recipes common in their social group. The arrival of TV brings us cooking programs and the recipe books that accompanied them. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting everybody to access thousands of recipes like those on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Kung Pao Chi (Chicken With Chilies & Nuts) recipe.
