Margarita's International Recipes

Chengdu
Tangerine Peel Chicken

I've enjoyed mandarin chicken at different Chinese restaurants (and Panda Express, I'm sad to say) so I was excited to make this version. Still, I wanted to make it child-friendly (i.e. not spicy) so my kids would eat it. The results were rather disappointing. The chicken was very dry (probably my fault, as I used chicken breasts) and very mildly flavored, though a bit too salty. I imagine the peppers would have made up for that. Needless to say, I wouldn't make it again.

Other than eliminating the spice (which I'm putting in this recipe as "optional") my only change was to double the recipe. I shouldn't have done that, as now we have tons of leftovers (which I'm planning to use in chicken quesadillas). The recipe below is the original recipe, not doubled.




Tangerine Peel Chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 slices fresh ginger, peeled
  • 1 scallion, sliced
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. rice wine
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, divided
  • 1 lb. skinless/boneless chicken, cut in bite size bits
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp. dried tangerine peel
  • 3-4 dried chilis (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp. Sichuan pepper (optional)
  • oil for deep frying
  • 1/2 tsp. sesame seed oil

Instructions

Crush the ginger and scallion together in a large bowl. Add the rice wine, salt and 1 Tbsp. rice wine. Mix well. Add the chicken, mix so all the chicken is covered and marinate for at least 1/2 hour.

Meanwhile whisk together 1 Tbsp. soy sauce, the sugar and rice vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat the frying oil in a wok or deep frying pan. Add the chicken and deep fry over high heat until cooked through and golden. Remove chicken from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside. Discard most of the oil, leaving 2 Tbsp. on the wok. Re-heat the oil over medium heat and add the tangerine peel and the chilis and Sichuan pepper, if using. Cook for a minute. Mix in the chicken. Add the soy sauce/vinegar combination, blend well and serve.


Adapted from Deh-Ta Hsiung's Chinese Regional Cooking.

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