Ingredients:
1 large egg
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
300g (.66 of a pound) of boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized chunks
1/4 sup vegetable oil
1/4 tablespoon of minced ginger
2 tablespoons of minced garlic
3 Thai chilies, halved crosswise (amount and type of chili depends the heat desired)
1 small yellow onion, sliced half-moon as thin as possible
60g carrots (1/4 cup), julienned (means matchstick sized)
1 small green pepper, julienned
1 cup mushrooms, julienned
Sauce:
1/3 cup white wine
4 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 teaspoons of lime juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock (approx)or 1/4 cup water (approx) (use chicken stock for more flavor)
Directions:
- Stir cornstarch into slightly beaten egg until well combined
- Add chicken pieces,stir to coat with cornstarch mixture
- Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat until just below smoking point (this depends on the type of oil you are using. If you would rather not fry the meat, you can also cook it normally in a pan with oil)
- If comfortable, fry the coated chicken in several batches until golden brown, turning if necessary, then remove to drain. If not comfortable frying, heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add the chicken, turning the chicken to make sure it does not burn.
- Leave about 2 tsp hot oil in the pan and cook the ginger, garlic and chili for 30 seconds.
- Add the onion slices, and continue to saute another 1-3 minutes, until the onions are soft.
- Add the carrot matchsticks and cook for 5 to 7 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid burning the bottom of the pan. If it looks like your oil has disappeared, add a little more to make sure the pan does not burn.
- Stir in the chicken pieces and saute for another 1 minute to reheat. You can also heat them in the oven at 350 to bring them back up to 165 F.
- Add in the sauce mixture, adding chicken stock or water when necessary, depending on how much sauce you like.
- Add the green pepper and shitake mushrooms, cook for another minute to allow the sauce to soak in to the vegetables.
- If you feel that the sauce is too thick, add more stock or water; if too thin, thicken with cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 TB cold water)
Tips: If you want really flavorful chicken, you can make the sauce described above as a marinade for pork, chicken or beef. Cook the sauce with ginger, garlic and onions and marinate choice meat for 3 to 12 hours. Then follow the same method as above, adding the additional sauce again at the end.