Monday, January 15, 2007

Chicken or Tofu with Mushrooms & Sichuan Sauce

This Eating Well recipe originally used tofu, but since I didn't have tofu available, I used chicken strips. I usually buy a pack of boneless chicken breasts, slice them into bite-size pieces, store them in the freezer in small containers, and use them to make chicken noodle soup, kung pao chicken or recipes such as this.

Sichuan Sauce

3 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste (I used catsup)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I used chili powder)

Mix all ingredients.

Heat a skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in 1 tablespoon canola oil; add garlic and scallions and stir-fry until fragrant, 10 seconds. Add sliced white mushrooms (I used porcini and added frozen mixe vegetables) and stir-fry until just beginning to soften, 1 minute. Transfer to a plate.

Swirl 1 tablespoon canola oil into the pan, reduce the heat to medium, add tofu cubes (or chicken strips) and pan-fry, turning midway through cooking, until it begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Swirl in Sichuan Sauce and the mushroom mixture; increase the heat to high and stir-fry until the tofu is just heated through and the sauce clings to it, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Discard the garlic. Serve immediately.

No comments: