Mongolian Chicken Recipe

My dad goes crazy for spicy food.  Every time we go out to dinner he is always willing to try new foods with a kick of heat!  He loves to push the limit with the level of heat that he can endure.  I am always willing to give a small taste to whatever he orders, but most of the time I learn my tolerance is {very} much lower than his.

One spicy dish my father has ordered in the past is Mongolian Beef.  This dish has a delicious tangy, spicy sauce coating the meat that my entire family loves.  I came across a simple Mongolian sauce recipe while reading Cooking Light magazine.  The recipe called to use beef, which we have done in the past, but all I had in the house tonight was chicken breast.  So I tried it as a substitute and it worked out perfectly! Don’t you just love when that happens?!?!

Mongolian Chicken Recipe

Cooking Light Magazine

Serves 4

 2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons dry sherry

2 teaspoons hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon chile paste with garlic  

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons peanut oil

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic

4 chicken breasts, cut into large bite sized pieces 

8 medium green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces

First, combine the soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, dry sherry, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, chili paste, and salt in a medium sized bowl until smooth.

Next, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the minced ginger, minced garlic, and chicken into the skillet and cook the chicken through, about 9 minutes depending on the thickness.  Once the chicken is fully cooked through, add the green onion pieces and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the sauce mixture into the skillet and cook for 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.

Serve with rice, cous cous or over rice noodles.  Enjoy!

Tips:

1)      If you don’t have peanut oil, use vegetable or canola oil instead

2)      Want to make this with steak instead?  Use 1 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced across the grain.  Sauté for 2 minutes or until beef is browned in the oil, ginger, garlic mixture.  Then add in the green onions and sauce as directed above.