Lockdown meals don’t have to be drab.
Sydney’s extended lockdown has unearthed a lot of home cooks. If you’re looking to expand your recipe repertoire in the coming weeks or just want some comfort food to help beat the chill, you don’t need to look any further. We turned to some of Sydney’s finest chefs for a little guidance to help us collate some simple, delicious and nourishing recipes that will help you stay sane in lockdown and whip up some seriously good grub. Check out the recipe for Kung Pao chicken as suggested by Steve Wu, Group Head Chef at Lotus Dining Group below.
Ingredients
Chicken marinade:
- 5g potato starch
- 10ml water
- 2ml soy sauce (or a couple of drops)
- Pinch of salt
- 200g chicken thigh fillets, cut into (diced into 1.5cm pieces)
Sauce:
- 20g palm sugar
- 30g soy bean paste
- 5ml Chinese red vinegar*
- 1tbsp chilli soy sauce or HP sauce
- 1sp Szechuan pepper oil*
- Pinch of chilli powder
Stir fry:
- 1tbsp vegetable oil
- 75g five spice tofu, cut in to 1.5cm cubes*
- 5g dried chilli flakes
- 5g ginger slices
- 30g shallots (green onions), chopped into 5cm pieces
- 10g toasted peanuts
- 1tsp black vinegar liquid measure
- 1tsp sesame oil
- toasted sesame seeds to serve (optional)
Method:
- Place potato starch, water and soy sauce in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken pieces. Mix marinade together quickly with a fork. Place chicken in the marinade and toss so all pieces are well coated.
- In a separate bowl, mix all sauce ingredients together, whisking with a fork until combined. You might need to break the chunks of palm sugar down. Set aside.
- For the stir fry — heat vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok over high heat.
- Add the marinated chicken to the pan and fry until golden and almost cooked through.
- Add tofu pieces to the pan and cook until slightly crispy.
- Add dried chilli and ginger.
- Once the chicken is cooked, stir through the sauce.
- Reduce the sauce until it thickens as a glaze and combines with the other ingredients.
- Stir in shallots, peanuts, black vinegar and sesame oil and mix so it heats through.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if desired, and serve with rice.
*Available at Chinese supermarkets
Put your kitchen skills to test when the weekend rolls around with this Kung Pao chicken recipe that works both as a quick weekday meal and as an elaborate party recipe.