May I call it Szechuan Chicken? Or is it Kung Pao??

Or is it firecracker chicken?

This is one of my attempts to replicate a Chinese Chicken dish we had from a take-out. I think they called it firecracker chicken, but when I researched for a recipe, I ended up finding Kung pao Chicken, Szechuan Chicken, and so many other variations. If you are a Chinese cuisine expert, you might be laughing already?

Though we love spicy Chinese dishes, I am hesitant to try it at home because of some alien ingredients I haven’t even heard of, or the perception that it is totally something new. I have a feeling that this is not any of the dishes I mentioned above. But my family love this dish, love that no one cares even if I make it five times a week. The preparation is pretty simple and quick.

Boneless skinless chicken breast – 1, cut into thin strips, sprinkle some salt, and keep aside. You can substitute with beef too.

Just as in most Chinese recipes, this involves some stir-frying during cooking. So you will need a big shallow fry pan, big enough to stir fry the ingredients. A big cast iron wok would be good too.

Heat up 2-3 tbsp of oil. When it is hot, add 3 whole dried chillies, and cook it until it is brown. If you prefer less spicy, you may leave the chillies whole, else you can break the chillies into two which would add more spiciness to the gravy. The dried red chillies give a unique taste to this dish, so please don’t leave out this ingredient.

Keep the burner on a medium-high flame.

Add one medium onion, thickly sliced, and cook until the onions are translucent. Add 3 cloves of crushed garlic. Cook a couple of minutes more.

Now add the chicken strips and cook until it is done and slightly brown. Stir occasionally.

Add thin slices (a little bigger than match-sticks) of carrot (one small carrot).

Add about a cup of bell pepper slices. Use different colors, or just use any color of your choice. I used a blend of red, green, and yellow peppers.

Fry it for a few minutes until the carrots & peppers are cooked yet crunchy.

Now sprinkle a tsp of corn flour and stir to coat.

Add ¼ cup of low sodium soya sauce, and ¾ cup of chicken broth. (You may be able to substitute the chicken broth with water, but I haven’t tried that yet. I saw that in some recipe on the internet.) This ratio of soya sauce and chicken broth gives moderately thick gravy. You may adjust this ratio depending on how you want it.

Bring it to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the gravy becomes thick.

Taste for salt and add more if needed. Since the soya sauce & chicken broth already have salt, you might not need to add any more salt.

Add ¼ cups of chopped green onions and cook for another minute. Turn off the stove and serve hot.

Serve it over a bed of white rice or fried rice. Garnish with more green onions.