Garlic Chili Chicken

For father's day today I wanted something spicy and savory. That got me thinking. One of my favorite flavors is salt & pepper on shrimp and chicken. Usually I try to keep the heat down, since the kids and wife don't like it too spicy.

Ingredients

1-1.5 lbs boneless chicken thigh
1 tsp five spice
1 tsp salt
1Tb doubanjian
2 Tb corn starch
1 bulb of garlic sliced to 1mm thick chips
24-30 dried chili
3 Tb cooking oil
1 Tb sesame oil

Prep

Cut the chicken thighs into cubes and put them in a mixing bowl. Add the salt and five spice and mix thoroughly. Let this sit for at least 10 minutes.

On medium low heat in a dry wok fry the dried chili until you start to get black specs. Remove from the heat and set it aside

Heat 3 Tb oil in a wok and add the garlic chips. Cook it on medium heat until they turn brown. Remove garlic from the wok and set it aside. Turn the heat to high. When it starts to smoke, add doubanjian, chicken and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

Add the chili and stir fry for another 3-4 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked. Add the garlic chips and toss for a minute. Transfer the chicken to a plat and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Serve hot with some rice. If you want it more spicy, add more dried chili. For me, this is a nice medium heat.

Doubanjian Lotus root and Taro

I was inspired by youtuber liziqi to make a more complicated dish today.

Since I love Taro and my wife loves lotus root, I decided to combine both with Sichuan flavors. Unlike Liziqi, I don't do everything from scratch. She is a great source of inspiration.

1-2 lbs of cubed Taro root
12 slices of Lotus root
1.5 inches minced ginger
2 cloves of garlic
3 scallion
1 jalapenio pepper
4 dried red chili
1 tsp green sichuan peppercorn
1 Tb doubanjian

Sauce
3 Tb shaoxing rice wine
3 Tb soy sauce
3 Tb mirin

Start by combining the sauce ingredients and mixing it in a bowl. Set this aside. For the dish I actually used sauce I saved from braised chicken feet and pig's ear. It's this thick gelatinous sauce with chicken, pork, five spice and a bunch of other aromatics.

Steam the taro for 15 minutes until it's just soft, but still holds the shape. Take it off the heat and let it cool down. In a wok, fry the taro pieces until it browns a little and the skin is crispy.

In a pot, boil the sliced lotus root for 4-6 minutes. You want them cooked, but still with a nice crunch. Once they're cooked, set it aside and let it cool.

In a dry wok, fry the dried chili on medium heat until it starts char. Add oil, minced garlic, minced ginger, sichuan peppercorn, scallion whites chopped, sliced jalapenio and doubanjian. Once the doubanjian becomes fragrant add the lotus root and stir-fry for a minute. Add half the sauce and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the taro and rest of the sauce. Stir-fry until everything is hot and garnish with the scallion greens.