Hey

Kung Pao Chicken has been my favorite for many years. It's even in Jacky
Chan's movie: The Medallion. Generally it's a spicy Szechuan dish made with
diced chicken, peanuts and chili peppers. It is named after a Kung Pao or
court official). Try it at home. I bet you'll like it.

Nicholas Zhou
Real & Healthy Chinese Recipes Get Your FREE Recipes & Cooking Tips
http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/
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Chinese Classic Recipes #1 - Kung Pao Chicken


Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
1 chicken (about 2 lbs) or 1 lb of chicken breasts
8 dried red chili peppers
1/2 cup skinless roasted peanuts (unsalted)
1 slice ginger
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced

1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 Tbsp cold water
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Sauce:
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp dry sherry
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
a few drops sesame oil

2 - 4 cups oil for deep-frying
3 1/2 Tbsp oil for stir-frying

Directions:
Remove all the bones from the chicken and cut into 1-inch cubes. Add the soy
sauce, cornstarch and water, Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, prepare the vegetables. Peel and slice the
ginger, and remove the tips and the seeds of the dry red peppers. Cut into
1-inch chunks.

Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside.
Heat wok and add 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Stir-fry the peanuts until they
turn golden, remove and set aside to cool.

Heat wok and add oil for deep-frying. Carefully slide the chicken into the
wok, and deep-fry the chicken for about 1 minute. Remove the chicken and
drain off the oil.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in wok. Add the dry red peppers and stir-fry until
they turn dark. Add the ginger and chicken, stir-frying rapidly. Give the
sauce a quick re-stir and add to the wok. Stir until the sauce is thickened
and mix together with other ingredients. Add the peanuts and mix just before
serving.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Zhou
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Real and Healthy Chinese Food Recipes
http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/

"Get Your FREE Chinese Recipes and Killer Cooking Tips in Your Mailbox,
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Cooking Tips #1 - Selecting Ingredients

Chinese cooking uses a wide range of ingredients, including meat, meat
products, fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, vegetables, bean products, wild
plants, game, and many seasonings. Most come in both fresh and dried forms,
but the most important features to look for are freshness and quality.

Meats should be judged by their place of origin, season of production, and
any other characteristic-for example, old or young, male or female-that may
be specified in a recipe. Appearance, color, weight, water content, and
smell are also important.

Different dishes call for different cuts of meat because cuts have different
textures once they have been cooked. Cuts of the same meat may be tough or
tender, coarse or fine. For example, the Chinese distinguish eighteen
different cuts of pork. These include filet, streaky pork, shoulder butt,
ham butt, hock, and shank.

The filet is considered the best cut and is generally stir-fried or
quick-fried (see the section below on "cooking techniques" for descriptions
of these and other procedures) to take advantage of its tenderness. Streaky
pork is best when marinated with spiced rice flour (see recipe Steamed Pork
with Spiced Rice Flour) and then steamed, or red-cooked (braised in soy
sauce). The shank and hock are best suited to lengthy simmering, with or
without soy sauce, while the ham and ham butt are often used as substitutes
for filet. The ribs and feet are best prepared 'by lengthy, low-temperature
methods like braising, baking or simmering, while spareribs are suitable for
sauteing, quick-frying, slippery-frying, and deep-frying. The methods used
for pork are also applicable to similar cuts of beef and lamb or mutton.

With reference to poultry, the tenderest and most versatile part of a
chicken or duck is the breast. Chickens or ducks less than a year old are
usually quick-fried or deep-fried, while older birds need long, slow cooking
like simmering or braising to tenderize them.

Fish is as nutritious as poultry. Crab, prawns and shrimps are rich in
phosphorus, calcium and vitamin A. You can tell a fresh fish by its tight,
undamaged scales, red gills, and clear protruding eyes. Fresh prawns and
shrimps should be greenish-white, with firm bodies that curve slightly. They
should not be flat or limp, and their heads and tails should be intact.
Fresh crabs should be alive and active. They should spit foams and have
green upper shells and white under-shells.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Zhou
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Real and Healthy Chinese Food Recipes
http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/

"Get Your FREE Chinese Recipes and Killer Cooking Tips in Your Mailbox,
email to "
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Nicholas Zhou wrote:

> Hey
>
> Kung Pao Chicken has been my favorite for many years. It's even in Jacky
> Chan's movie: The Medallion. Generally it's a spicy Szechuan dish made with
> diced chicken, peanuts and chili peppers. It is named after a Kung Pao or
> court official). Try it at home. I bet you'll like it.
>
> Nicholas Zhou
> Real & Healthy Chinese Recipes Get Your FREE Recipes & Cooking Tips
> http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/
> ================================================== =======================

This was spammed to lots of groups. It's a money-making deal for Zhou.

Pastorio

Bob Pastorio <snip>

> Nicholas Zhou <snip>

Better to sign up with

Lee Kum Kee

(the maker of Chinese sauces).

I'm a "member" of their site. They occasionally send me a newsletter
with recipes. I've never received any spam or commercial solications
from them or other Chinese firms -- food related or otherwise.

For those who like Chinese, but refuse to give ANYTHING in return,
try:

http://www.hkcg.com/text/en/cooking/cooking_01.asp

these people have recently much changed their webpages and now, rather
than a webpage loaded with graphics, all you get is a picture of the
dish and the ingredients and instructions. Well, there is a way to
email the recipe as well. As an avid fan of Chinese food, I can
recommend it to one and all.