Stir-fry Basil Chicken

Ingredients
1/2 free range chicken (cut into small pieces)
300 gm fresh basil shoots
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 red bird eye chili (halved, seeded)
1 dried chili (soaked, seeded and cut into 1″ length)
dark soy sauce
light soy sauce
sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
dash of pepper
sea salt
olive oil

1. Wash chicken parts and pat dry. I prefer small free range chicken for this dish mainly because it has less fats and the meat is sweeter and more succulent. Make sure the pieces are small to enable it to cook through easily and not burn on the outside and still red in the insides. This dish has to be dry and not full of gravy.
2. Heat up the wok. Drizzle in the olive oil. Toss in the fresh and dried chili, chopped garlic, followed by chicken pieces. Stir fry them around until the chicken is well seared, then add a drizzle of light and dark soy sauce, a little sesame oil and stir some more till all the chicken is evenly coated and colored. Do not add water but you may lower down the heat.
3. When the chicken is almost cooked through, throw in all the basil shoots and leaves. Add sugar, pepper and sea salt to taste. When the basil goes limp, turn off the heat immediately and serve.

source:Audrey Cooks

Chinese Style Chicken With Vegetables

Chinese cooking recipes can be hard to find and this is a recipe that hasn't been publish on-line to my knowledge. It is very simple and requires only a little preparation time.

Ingredients

- 1 pound of uncooked, boneless and skinless chicken breast
- 1 can of sliced water chestnuts
- 1 can of bamboo shoots
- 1 can of baby corn (cut in half)
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup bean sprouts
- 2 dried red chili peppers (optional for spiciness)

Chicken Marinade

(30 minutes to 8 hours before)
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of teriyaki sauce
- 2 tablespoons of corn starch

Chinese sauce

(can be made just before you start cooking)
- 2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon of water
- 1 tablespoon of corn starch

Preparation

Cut the chicken into 3/4 inch cubes and place in a zip-top bag with the chicken marinade for at least 30 minutes.

Place 2 tablespoons of sesame oil into a skillet over medium-high heat. Empty the seeds from the red chili peppers and break them up into the oil (leave them whole if you want to keep them in the meal).

Let the oil warm up until it starts to shimmer and moves easily around the pan. After 1 minute remove the bits of chili peppers. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place in the oiled pan. Stir this constantly to ensure the chicken does not stick to the pan.

Once the chicken and marinade has thickened, add the bamboo shoots and broccoli into the pan. Increase the heat to high and stir every minute or so for 3 to 4 minutes.

After 3 or 4 minutes, put in the water chestnuts and baby corn. Keep stirring every minute or two until everything looks cooked through, another 4 or 5 minutes.

Add the bean sprouts and pour the Chinese sauce over the food and start mixing it with the other ingredients. Take the pan off the heat once everything is coated well.

Serve with rice and this becomes one more recipe in your collection of Chinese cooking recipes.

This serves 4 people and could be stretched with more rice to serve 6.