Wednesday 28 August 2013

Chilli chicken and almond stir-fry

Sorry it has been so long between posts. I've got some time off work now so I'm going to be posting like a mad French chef who ran out of butter! 

Alan and I had been away to Melbourne and our gorgeous friends Craig and Erica cat-sat our furries. When we picked them up, an offer to stay for dinner was extended. There was also a bottle of red involved. Of course we said yes. Here's what Erica cooked, straight from the Taste website she reports. It was sen-sa-tion-al. One wok, super easy, make lots and take it for lunch. 

Ingredients

3 (about 700g) single chicken breast fillets
60ml (¼ cup) peanut oil
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoons sambal oelek
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 bunches asparagus, woody ends trimmed, cut into 4cm lengths
100g green beans, topped, cut into 3cm lengths
125ml (½ cup) chicken stock
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
½ cup firmly packed coarsely chopped fresh coriander
65g (½ cup) toasted slivered almonds
To serve: steamed jasmine rice

Method

Thinly slice chicken. Combine chicken, 1 tablespoon of the oil, soy sauce, sambal oelek, garlic and ginger in a glass or ceramic bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes to develop the flavours.

Heat 1 tablespoon of remaining oil in a frying pan or wok over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add one-third of chicken mixture and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat, in 2 more batches, with remaining chicken mixture, reheating pan between batches.

Add the rest of the oil to the pan and heat until just smoking. Add asparagus and beans and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until bright green. Add chicken, stock and oyster sauce and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle with almonds and coriander, and serve with the rice.