Recipe: Quick-fix Chinese meal

Burnt garlic fried rice. Photograph by Anurag Banerjee

Cheap Chinese food is everyone’s guilty pleasure, whether we admit it or not. There’s something extremely comforting about greasy, masala-loaded chicken and fried rice that has us craving for it at the end of a long day, when we’re a few drinks down or simply in the middle of the night. Hygiene standards at most of the eateries catering this specific kind of food may be slightly dubious, so we set out to find a workaround. And we have chef Sahil Arora, executive chef at Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel and Marriott Executive Apartments, Mumbai to thank for. Below are two easy recipes to help master your favourite craving meal at home, minus any hassle.
Kung pao chicken
Serves 4

Photograph by Anurag Banerjee

Ingredients:
1tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp corn starch
600gm chicken thighs – boneless, skinless, cut into 1-inch cubes
1tbsp vinegar (good-quality balsamic vinegar will also work)
1tsp hoisin sauce
1tsp sesame oil
5tsp sugar
250ml refined oil
8 to 10 dried red chilies cut diagonally
3 shoots of green onion
2 nos garlic cloves finely chopped minced
1 tsp ginger – chopped
1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts crushed
Method:
Finely chop the garlic. Separate the white and green parts of the green onions and cut into thin slices. Set these ingredients aside

Wash and cut the chicken thighs into 1-inch cubes

In a medium bowl, stir together the soy sauce, and corn starch until the corn starch has dissolved. Add the chicken and mix gently to coat. Let it stand at room temperature for 5 minutes

Heat oil in a deep frying pan and fry chicken over medium high heat, till well cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside

Heat oil in another frying pan; add dry chili, chopped ginger, garlic and sauté for 30seconds

Add vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Stir until it blends properly

Add fried chicken and toss it well, sprinkle spring onion and peanuts

Remove from the heat and served hot

 

Burnt garlic fried rice
Serves 3

Ingredients:
400g Basmati rice, cooked
150g chicken breast
20g chicken broth powder (optional)
10g white pepper powder
10ml light soya sauce
2 nos. eggs
50g sping onion, chopped
30g garlic
50ml cooking oil

Method:
Cut the chicken breast into shreds. Blanch in boiling water for a few minutes and set aside

Beat eggs well to form a frothy mixture. Heat a wok or a deep bottomed pan with some oil and add the eggs. Scramble the eggs and set aside once cooked

Roughly chop the garlic and add to hot oil. Cook on medium heat till the garlic browns and becomes fragrant. Remove from heat and transfer garlic bits to a papertowel to soak excess oil and set aside

Add a small amount of oil to the wok (or deep bottomed pan) and add the cooked rice, soy sauce, white pepper powder, chicken and scrambled eggs. Toss vigorously until all the ingredients mix well. Take off from the stove once the rice becomes fragrant

Serve rice in a bowl and garnish with burnt garlic and chopped spring onion.