Ken Hom

Chicken Shreds with Hot Peppers

Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Complex

  • Serves

    2

    as a Main Course.

Appears in

top 1000Chinese Technique

Chinese Technique

By Ken Hom

Published 1981

  • About

This is one of those dishes that is equally good hot and cold. Since the pepper seeds are removed, the spiciness is subtle, but nevertheless present. If you velvet the chicken ahead of time, the dish can be cooked at the last minute. You could also prepare it entirely ahead of time and serve it at room temperature with a squirt of fresh lemon as a spicy chicken salad, Chinese-style. The red and green peppers are shredded like the chicken.

Ingredients

  • 2 small fresh hot red peppers, seeded and shredded
  • 6 small fresh hot green peppers, seeded and shredded
  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil

Sauce

  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
  • 3 tablespoons chicken broth
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 whole chicken breast, about 1 pound, shredded and velveted
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold chicken broth

Method

Shredding, stir-frying

  1. Over moderate heat, stir-fry the peppers in the oil until they soften (about 30 seconds).

  2. Add the sauce ingredients and the chicken. Mix well with the peppers, then add the cornstarch paste. Allow the sauce to thicken a few seconds, then transfer the finished dish to a serving plate.

  • May be partially prepared ahead and served hot, or prepared entirely ahead and served at room temperature.
  • Suggested Beverage: Beer

© 1981 Ken Hom. All rights reserved.