Monday, January 11, 2010

Kung Pao Chicken

I got this recipe from Shape magazine. I found a free subscription someplace and am trying a few ideas out. I bought all the ingredients at WalMart, so they should be available anywhere. They did cost about $10 to buy the four bottles, but hopefully we really want to make this recipe many more times.I baked my chicken. I wasn't sure about the sauce, so I didn't pour it all over the chicken. Grilled Chicken with Kung Pao Sauce
Ingredients:
6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, thawed
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Black or Red Rice Vinegar (or Red Wine Vinegar)
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Water, divided
1/4 teaspoon Sugar
1/4 cup Oyster Sauce (this part sounds gross to me, but I'll give it a try. I'm not a seafood lover.)
1/8 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/2 teaspoon Cornstarch
1/4 cup Unsalted Peanuts, optional
1 Scallion, Slivered

Instructions:
Grill Chicken (you can use a BBQ or a 10 inch grill pan) over medium heat for about 7 minutes on one side and 3 on the other or until cooked through.
In a medium saucepan, mix soy sauce, vinegar, 1 Tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon water, sugar, oyster sauce, and oil. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and remaining water (1/2 teaspoon). Drizzle the cornstarch/water mixture into the sauce. Return sauce to a boil and simmer for about 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
Using a pastry brush, coat each chicken breast with sauce (or dump it on). Garnish with peanuts and scallions and serve immediately.
Tastes great served with rice (regular, brown, or wild) and a side of broccoli or other vegetables.
Shape includes the nutrition score per serving (1 Chicken Breast with 2 Tablespoons Sauce):
173 calories
5 grams fat <1>
29 grams protein
1 gram fiber
24 mg calcium
1 mg iron
971 mg sodium
It also added that a normal take out serving of this dish would be 510 calories and 36 grams of fat instead of their 173 calories and 5 grams of fat for a 4 ounce serving.

One of my husband's favorite Chinese dishes is Kung Pao Chicken. His top choice is still General Tso's Chicken or Beef followed by Beef and Broccoli, but Kung Pao may overtake that if this recipe turns out.

Result:
I really disliked it. My husband thought it was pretty good. I only had one bite. He cleaned his plate and dumped the sauce all over the rice too. I could only taste the nasty oyster sauce. If you like seafood, this is for you.

Anyone want a freshly opened jar of oyster sauce?

1 comment:

Mary said...

I don't think I would have bought the Oyster sauce in the 1st place. There has to be a substitution somewhere for it. I read once what is in the Worcheshire sauce too, and don't like it anymore either. More seafood for everyone else...NONE for me!