Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Year of the Dragon!

I hope you are happily celebrating this special day somewhere! Me, I've already celebrated New Years on Saturday with a bunch of friends from school. My little living room was packed with people, and there were dishes upon dishes of Chinese and Taiwanese foods, some sweet, some savoury, some spicy. I can't take all the credit, though – I was greatly helped by a classmate of mine from Shanghai. His father owns a Chinese restaurant, and they prepared a lot of food for us as well, which was jolly nice. We ended up having to buy frozen pizzas, though, because we made too little food. I mention this because I feel you need to know I'm not a complete snob. I like frozen pizzas as much as the next person. Even if it isn't Chinese.

I love Chinese food (for the nostalgia, as much as the taste, mind you), but I hate – yes, hate – the tasteless, gloopy stuff they serve in Chinese restaurants over here. It's a far cry from the delights I grew up eating in Taiwan and China. My particular favourite cuisine is Szechuan – spicy! – bursting with hot flavours and lots of fresh veggies. Anyway, I did want to cook something that fitted with the Year of the Dragon, but I couldn't find dragon anywhere. No store sold dragon. Nobody had dragon. So I was forced to use chicken instead (now that I think about it, I rather believe dragon would be chewy, so more like whale then). 

This recipe here is a really good one – the Kung Pao tastes like it's supposed to! Although I feel I do need to mention that it is not completely authentic – this recipe is from Taiwan, not Szechuan. To make it more authentic, you'll have to add Szechuan chillies and peppercorns along with the marinade, and a dash of Shaoxing wine to enhance the flavours. I didn't add chilli to this one (they were all used on Saturday!), and though I missed the actual flavour (not to mention colour) of red chilli, I think it's a good idea if you're not into the hot and spicy. I did, however, actually have a lovely jar of Szechuan pepper which I brought in, er, France, so I added some, which did change the flavour for the better, but is is no way necessary. It tastes good either way, you see. And! It's really quick too - marinate 30 minutes, then fry.

Enjoy!

宮保雞丁 (Kung Pao Chicken) *Ingredients* 500 g. chicken, in pieces  75 g. peanuts (or cashew nuts) Marinade 2 tbsp. corn starch 4 tbsp. soy sauce Sauce 4 tbsp. soy sauce 2 tbsp. vinegar  2 tbsp. sugar  2 tsp. sesame oil 2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated 4 red chillis, sliced with seeds removed  Marinade the chicken pieces in the marinade for 30 minutes. Heat the oil in a wok until hot. Cook the chicken in the oil until white. When the chicken is finished add the sauce and peanuts. Serve with rice.

宮保雞丁 (Kung pao kylling) *Ingrediensar* 500 g. kylling, i stykke 75 g. peanøtter (eller cashewnøtter) Marinade 2 ms. maizenamjøl 4 ms. sojasaus Saus 4 ms. sojasaus 2 ms. eddik 2 ms. sukker  2 ts. sesamolje 2 ts. fersk ingefær, raspa 4 raude chilliar, i stykke utan frø Mariner kyllingstykka i 30 minutt.Varm opp olja i ein wok. Steik kyllingstykka i woken. Stykka skal vera gjennomsteikte. Ha i sausen og peanøttene til slutt. Server med ris.