Ingredients
- 1 +1/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs/breast tenderloins, cut into 1-1 1/2″ cubes
- 3/4 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste (or grated ginger)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoon Sriracha/any hot chili sauce (or to taste)
- 3 tablespoon corn starch + 3 teaspoons corn starch
- 3-4 tablespoon oil + more to shallow fry the chicken cubes
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame seed
- 4-5 red dry chili pepper (like de arbol)
- 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)
- 2 tablespoon (or to taste) Sriracha or any hot chili/or chili garlic sauce (Asian kind preferable with no vinegar added to the sauce)
- 2 tablespoon tamari/soy sauce (light or dark- whatever you would like)*
- 1 cup sliced/chopped onions
- 1 tbsp. minced ginger
- 1/2 tbsp. minced garlic
- salt to taste
- black pepper, about 6-7 grinds
- 2 tablespoon toasted Asian sesame oil
- thinly sliced scallions
Preparation
Step 1
Clean the chicken. Trim fat and wash them. Pat them dry with a paper towel. In a ziploc bag or a bowl combine chicken, vinegar, a tablespoon of ginger paste, a teaspoon of minced garlic, some salt, 2 teaspoons of Sriracha/hot sauce and let it sit for at least 45 minutes or more.
Heat oil in a pan/wok. Add the cornstarch/corn flour to the marinated chicken and toss for the flour to coat the chicken pieces. Shallow fry the chicken (in a single layer) at high- medium heat for about 6-8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the outside is golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer on paper towels. Set aside.
In a bowl combine tomato paste, Sriracha/hot sauce, tamari/soy sauce. In another bowl combine 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1/2 cup of cold water.
In another pan/wok, heat 3-4 tablespoon oil. Add the dry red chili pepper to the oil and let it turn dark brown. Add the sesame seeds and let it turn golden brown. Now add the chopped onions, minced ginger and garlic and fry at high heat while stirring constantly, about a minute.
Add the fried chicken and toss. Now add the contents for the sauce that you had combined in a bowl and the black pepper and cook while stirring and tossing the chicken, for a couple of minutes. Stir the corn starch/corn flour and add to the wok/pan and cook while tossing quickly and until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken pieces – for another couple of minutes. There should be some extra sauce left in the pan. The dish is not entirely dry. Stir in the toasted sesame oil.
Remove from heat and garnish with sliced scallions. Serve with rice/noodles.