Dong'an Chicken
A classic traditional Shandong (Lu) cuisine dish, Dong'an chicken is prepared by cutting boiled hen into pieces, stir-frying them with chili peppers and other complementary ingredients for a bright, sour-spicy, fresh and aromatic flavor.
Ingredients
Young hen, gutted (washed, blanched in boiling water until just cooked, bones removed, cut into 4 cm long × 1 cm wide pieces)
1 (about 750g)
Scallion (shredded)
to taste
Ginger (shredded)
to taste
Green bell pepper (shredded)
to taste
Dried chili (minced)
to taste
Garlic (minced)
to taste
Peanut oil
to taste
Sichuan peppercorn powder
to taste
Cooking wine
to taste
MSG
to taste
Salt
to taste
Rice vinegar
to taste
Chicken stock
a pinch
Sesame oil (drizzled in just before serving)
to taste
Instructions
1
Prepare the chicken
Wash the chicken and place it in a pot of boiling water, cooking just until the flesh turns opaque. Remove, let cool, then debone and cut the meat into pieces about 4 cm long and 1 cm wide.
2
Prep the aromatics
Shred the scallion and ginger. Shred the green bell pepper. Finely mince the dried chili and garlic.
3
Stir-fry and braise
Heat a wok over high heat and add the peanut oil. When the oil is moderately hot (about 50–60% of smoking point), add the minced dried chili and fry until fragrant. Immediately add the scallion, ginger, green pepper shreds, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorn powder and stir-fry until aromatic. Add the chicken pieces and toss to combine. Pour in the cooking wine, MSG, salt, rice vinegar, and a small amount of chicken stock. Cover and braise for 10 minutes. Uncover and reduce the sauce until thickened (swirl in a cornstarch slurry if needed), drizzle with the sesame oil, then transfer to a plate and serve.
