Reviews: Sichuan Style Chicken with Peanuts and Asian Asparagus Orange Salad

[pmmahan]

All I can say is YUM! The sitr fried chicken is from the Jan/Feb. issue and was delicious. The ingredient list was somewhat daunting (read:long) but on the whole, it was easy to make. I would rate it a 9 on the taste scale. I had some friends over and everyone loved it. The peanutty flavor and the chicken was just great- the sauce was wonderful.
The Asian Asparagus Orange Salad was excellent. I was so surprised by the combination of sesame, asparagus, and orange wedges, how well they complemented each other. I found this recipe on the CL website.
I highly recommend these recipes! My friend wants me to email her both of them....

[Laura]

I am so excited. I have been wanting to try the chicken with peanut sauce but didn't want to make it if it wasn't going to be any good. Thanks for being my guniea pig http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif I may make it tonight!

[SueK]

Thanks for the info! I bought all the ingredients for this yesterday, and plan to make it tomorrow night, so it's good to know it'll be a hit!

[kltcarley]

Another "thumbs up" for the chicken recipe. It has great flavor. My husband votes to up the spice for next time. He likes it spicer, but I don't!

[JHolcomb]

Yum! I just made the chicken and it was sooooo good. I did put in an extra teaspoon of sambal to spice it up a little more, though. The flavor was excellent, though next time I may throw in some green bell peppers (my husband likes them in Kung Pao). Not the quickest dish to prepare, but worth the effort! Can't wait for an excuse to make it again.

[Peggy]

pmmahan,

Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! Tonight I made the Asian Asparagus Orange Salad and it was fantastic! I won't have known about it if you hadn't posted the review. I printed it off of the recipe search and we really enjoyed it. Thnaks for sharing it with us!

Peggy

[ElinorC]

I have a question for those who have made the stir-fry dish. Did you use rice wine/sake? I couldn't find this so I made the dish without it and we thought it was good but not terrific. Do you think 2 tablespoons of the rice wine would make that much difference?

[CathyS]

I too, made the sichuan chicken last night. I loved it! I don't even want to eat the leftover peanuts in the jar, so I can save them to make this dish again!
I substituted red bell pepper for the water chestnuts (i was out) and also upped the amount of the chili paste.
A definite repeater for me.

[pmmahan]

I made it using cooking vermouth that I bought at the grocery store (picked up that little tip from these BB's! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif )It seemed to be fine! From what I've read on here, if you use rice vinegar, as some have, you should dilute it with water.
Perhaps the rice wine would make this dish fantastic, I may order it from ethnicgrocer.com (along with those elusive chipotle chiles in adobo sauce) next time and see how it comes out.

[Vanessa]

Asian Asparagus-and-Orange Salad

2 oranges
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 cups (2-inch) diagonally sliced asparagus (about 2 pounds)
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
Napa (Chinese) cabbage leaves (optional)


Peel and section oranges over a bowl, reserving 1 teaspoon juice. Set sections aside; discard membranes. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and garlic; saute 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Combine soy sauce and sesame oil; pour over asparagus mixture, tossing well. Cool to room temperature. Stir in sesame seeds, orange sections, and 1 teaspoon juice. Serve on cabbage leaves, if desired.

[SClementson]

I FINALLY got to use my new non-stick wok (that I got for Christmas) last night! I made the Sichuan Chicken and we (DH and I) both loved it. It's a little "saucier" than I like, so next time I may either reduce the sauce ingredients a bit or cook it down more. Also, I'd like more crunchy fresh vegetables so next time I'll add snow peas and some red bell pepper at the end. We both loved the flavors, though, and we'll definitely be making it again.

Forgot to add that I did increase the spices based on other peoples' posts. I added more garlic, more ginger, and more chili paste. Yum!

[This message has been edited by SClementson (edited 01-16-2001).]

[Marcie]

We made the sichuan chicken tonight. I liked it, but next time I'll at least double the chile paste because I didn't think it was spicy enough. DH liked it a lot.

I also made the broccoli with oyster sauce. I liked its sauce even more than the sichuan chicken, but DH thought it was unremarkable. I'd make it again myself, though.

[ElinorC]

We thought the Chicken-Cashew Stir Fry (May 00)was better probably because of the veggies. I really like that one and will definitely will make it again. Both of them need a little kick however but that's easily done with chili paste and/or Oriental hot oil which is really hot!

[kwormann]

Well, I also have to say YUM! DH cut chicken and veggies (yes, I said veggies, we added them) while I made the sauce. We love things hot, so we added lots of hot chili paste, plus added red and green pepper, mushrooms and snow peas, and left out the water chestnuts. I was also out of soy sauce, so I substituted sesame ginger sauce from WIlliams-Sonoma. It was spicy and a keeper!
Now to compare, we are going to make the Chicken cashew stir fry on Monday.....

Kim

[This message has been edited by kwormann (edited 01-19-2001).]

[This message has been edited by kwormann (edited 01-20-2001).]

[LGBurns]

I made the Asian Asparagus Orange Salad with the Malaysian Lime Coconut Swordfish (but I made it with salmon instead). My husband gave the salad an 8 -- he really liked it and thought it went great with the fish.

[ElinorC]

Another thumbs up for Asian Asparagus Orange Salad. What an interesting combination of flavors. My Dh loved the garlic in the asparagus. I'm always looking for different salads and this filled the bill. Thanks for the review.

[Jessica]

Nine months later, I finally made this chicken recipe. It is easier than it looks, and we really liked sweet-spicy sauce. I used only 1 lb chicken and added some sugar snap peas and few extra water chestnuts. Next time I might include some red pepper or something, just for color. I really did think the 1 lb of chicken was a good ratio of meat to veggies.

I did not have low-salt soy sauce and used regular, but that did make the dish a bit salty. I think next time I would halve the soy sauce.

[Peggy]

I had forgotten about both of these recipes! Thanks for bringing them back to my attention. I may have to put them on my list of menus for the week...

Peggy

[jenjenfireengin]

I just made this since it appeared again the most recent issue. I'm wondering if anyone else had problems with the sauce thickening. I even brought it to a boil and let it cool and still it was a little soupy. The flavor was wonderful though.

[Jessica]

Ours didn't thicken either. I served it over rice and that soaked up some of the sauce, but it was still pretty messy. I liked the taste, though.

fyi We have a lot of vegetarian friends and enjoy vegetarian food, so I tried making this with tofu. We were pretty disappointed; the chicken evidently provides a lot of the flavor. Next time I would marinate the tofu first and punch up the seasoning.

[JulieAnn]

I made the Asian Asparagus Salad a year or so ago and loved it. I wanted to add that with any oriental type dish I've been making the following salad that's easy and goes great with chinese food. It's an adaptation from a recipe from CL.


(measurements aren't exact -- sorry!)

MANDARIN ORANGE SESAME SALAD (my name- I don't know if CL had given it one -- )

Torn up Romaine ( I add some spinach and whatever else I have)
1-2 cans mandarin oranges
1 can water chestnuts OR sugared almonds
about 1/4 c. rice vinegar
a dash of soy sauce
about a teaspoon of sesame oil
about 1 t. sugar

I've made it with both the water chestnuts and the almonds and I like it both ways. JulieAnn

[LHBryan]

I made the Sichuan Style Chicken w/ Peanuts last night. How did I miss this one the first go-around? Maybe the long ingredient list kept me away. It was fabulous and much easier to make than I had anticipated. So glad to see that others have tried it w/ more veggies--we were talking about adding snow peas and/or red peppers next time. What about a few bean sprouts? The sauce is delicious. Just the right amount of sweetness and spice. I used regular soy sauce too, but used about two-thirds the amount called for. We haven't been able to find any consistently good Chinese restaurants in this area, but now we have a great dish to enjoy at home.

[lhall]

I made this tuesday night and we all liked it.

I found some Cooking Rice Wine at the grocery store so I use that, and I only had regular soy sauce. I was going to cut down on the salt, then I noticed there wasn't any. No, it wasn't too salty. The peanuts were nice, and I didn't burn the second batch I roasted.:D

I served this with rice and some steamed snow peas tossed with butter, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. It just didn't seem to have enough veggies for my tastes.

I would make it again, it is was much easier and faster than I thought it would be.

Leigh

[cbabbitt]

I've made this one every other week since it first appeared. I've had a couple bad bathces but I think it was attributed to the saki I used.

I tend to get very sloppy on the amount of green onions, ginger, and garlic I add. Sometimes I get way out of hand with the garlic but because it's cooked, it doesn't seem to cause any problems.

The first three times I made it, it seemed to be a bit watery. I add a bit more corn strarch and use a wire wisk (cooking in a wok) to firm it up. If you use less water in the rice, it does a nice job of soaking up the sauce and holding the flavor.

This is one of our favorite dishes. Thanks CL!

[kimmer99]

I made the Sichuan (sp) chicken last night. We loved it and didn't have any problems w/ the sauce thickening but I like the idea of adding some red pepper or other veggies to it. Has anyone done this? Do you increase the sauce ingredients or keep them the same? At what point do you throw the peppers into the mix? I'm thinking after the chicken but before the green onions, water chestnuts and peanuts.

[Tizzylish]

I made it for my fiance on Valentines day and he loved it. He only eats red and green peppers so I used both, cutting up half of each. I didn't double the sauce and for us it came out perfect! :)

[ashleenicole]

I can't find this recipe! I've tried recipe finder and a BB search and my Jan/Feb 2001 issue is nowhere to be found!

Would someone mind posting this recipe! Thanks so much!

[Terrytx]

* Exported from MasterCook *

Sichuan-Style Stir-Fried Chicken with Peanuts

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Poultry

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------

Marinade:
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine or sake
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts -- cut into bite-sized
pieces

Stir-Frying Oil:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil -- divided

Sauce:
1/2 cup fat-free less sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine or sake
1 tablespoon chinese black vinegar or Worcestershiresauce
1 1/4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic -- about 7 cloves
1 teaspoon chile paste with garlic

Remaining Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water chestnuts -- drained and sliced
1 cup (1/2-inch) sliced green onion tops
3/4 cup unsalted peanuts, dry-roasted
6 cups hot cooked rice

To prepare marinade, combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; cover
and chill 20 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet
over medium-high heat. Add the chicken mixture; stir-fry 4 minutes or
until chicken is done. Remove from pan; set aside.

To prepare sauce, combine broth and next 6 ingredients (broth through 1
teaspoon sesame oil); stir well with a whisk. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable
oil in pan. Add 2 tablespoons green onions, ginger, garlic, and chile
paste, and stir fry for 15 seconds. Add broth mixture, and cook 1 minute
or until thick, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cooked chicken, water chestnuts, sliced onion tops, and peanuts;
cook for 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Serve over rice.

Source:Cooking Light - January/February 2001

Yield: 6 servings (Serving size: 3/4 cup stir-fry and 1 cup rice)
Per serving: 613 Calories (kcal); 17g Total Fat; (25% calories from fat);
37g Protein; 74g Carbohydrate; 66mg Cholesterol; 615mg Sodium

Food Exchanges: 4 Grain(Starch); 4 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2
1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates





Serving Ideas : Asian Asparagus Orange Salad

[Norma]

We had the Sichuan Chicken tonight. It was a lot of fiddling getting everything ready, but the actual cooking went fast. We liked it, but for some reason neither one of us cared for the peanuts in it. I would make it again without the peanuts. The sauce was very tasty and it thickened just right.

[kristalsnow7]

DBF cooked dinner last night and wanted to try the Sichuan Chicken recipe. It was fantastic! He did admit to upping some of the spices, but the end result was great. We had this with CL's Garlicky Brown Rice, and the two recipes went very well together. Definite thumbs up for both! :)