The past weekend has been rather dreadful in Switzerland. Saturday brought a day full of rain and sunday wasn't much better. The only thing I was craving was cozying up on the couch with a good book, a cup of tea and my ultimate comfort food. I have talked about comfort food at other times already, but if I had to decide on my ultimate go-to recipe for an instant mood-lift it would be the best stir-fried chicken from Gwyneth Paltrow's "Notes from My Kitchen Table". This is like chinese take-away - except it's better because you know what's in it. It does mimic the typical sweet and sour taste of chinese perfectly.
Here's the recipe:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoon cornflour
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons peeled and finely chopped garlic
4 tablespoons peeled and finely chopped ginger
4 large spring onions
pinch crushed chillies (optional)
125ml (4 fl. oz; 1/2 cup) rice wine vinegar
125g (4 oz) dark brown sugar (unrefined if possible)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh coriander, for serving
1) Cut the chicken breasts into small cubes (about 2cm, 1 inch). Toss the chicken with the cornflour, a large pinch of salt and quite a bit of pepper. Chop the ginger and garlic and finely slice the spring onions (white and green parts).
2) Heat the oil in a large non-stick wok over medium-high heat (this is a gentle stir-fry). Add the garlic, ginger, spring onions, and crushed chillies, if using them, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
3) Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
4) Add the vinegar, sugar and 5 or 6 grinds of black pepper. Boil on high for 3 minutes, or until the sugar has really caramelized, the vinegar has mellowed a bit and the whole mixture is dark brown and sticky and lovely.
5) Add the soy sauce, cook for another 30 seconds and serve immediately, sprinkled with the coriander.
Serves: 4
Active preparation time: 20 minutes
Total preparation time: about 30 minutes
© Copyright: Gwyneth Paltrow, "Notes from my Kitchen Table", p. 157
Here's how it looks:
I know, it's not a real beauty, but the chicken is coated with caramelized sauce and perfectly soft and tender. This dish has a signature spicy note from the ginger, sourness from the vinegar and a lovely hint of sweetness from the sugar. Unrefined dark brown sugar is not as sweet as regular refined sugar, so try and find unrefined sugar. It really makes a difference. I normally leave the coriander and omit the garlic in this recipe, especially when I am having classes the next day and don't want to smell of it. I serve mine with brown rice as I find it complements the dish better with its stronger taste than a basmati rice that has a very fine taste.
Have fun trying and cozy up when autumn brings the chilly weather!
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