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Five Spice Chicken w/ Snap Peas (Pix Intensive)

jfm0830
jfm0830 Posts: 987
edited December 2012 in EggHead Forum
Another day another stir fry. Folks seem to be enjoying these, so I will keep posting them til I wear out my welcome with stir fries. I have gotten busy  on the work front, so these stir fries are perfect because they are quick to throw together and there is a wide variety to chose from. This recipe was from Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge. This was a fairly quick stir fry with only 3 additions of food to the wok. One thing that was different is the new WGWW charcoal I added tonight to top off the Egg was VERY sparky. Not sure what caused that, but you can see some residual sparks in some of the photos.

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The ingredients were: Chicken breast chunks, snap peas, chicken broth, ginger, corn starch, five spice powder, honey, salt, ketchup, sesame oil, dark soy sauce & dry sherry.



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The chicken breast chunks were marinaded with the ginger,  five spice powder, honey, dark soy sauce, dry sherry.



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After the chicken and marinade ingredients were thoroughly mixed together some sesame oil was also added and mixed in.



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The sauce was made by mixing the chicken broth, dark soy sauce & ketchup together.



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Everything is on a tray headed out to the Egg which is pre-heated to a sparky 550 degrees. As I mentioned this was a relatively simple cook with 3 additions.



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Some peanut oil has been heated to the smoking point and it is time to start.



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The chicken was cooked first and then set aside in a bowl while the snap peas cooked.



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Some more peanut oil was added to the wok and the snap peas were stir fried for a minute next.



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The peas are done and they have actually changed from a dull green to a more bright green in color, signalling they were done. 



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The chicken is added back in, immediately followed by....



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The sauce. Everything was stir-fried for another minute & a half. It is now time to eat!



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I am auditioning various stir-fries for New Years Eve and this one may have just made the cut. It is my second favorite recipe i've made to date. This dish had wonderful flavors both from the marinated chicken which was tender and tasted of ginger and anise (from the 5 Spice Powder) and the sauce was simple and tasty. I'm embarrassed to say two of us polished off this serving for 4. 

Jim

Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.

Comments

  • Greeno55
    Greeno55 Posts: 635
    Jim, because of your posts, I picked up a copy of "Breath of a Wok", ordered my spider, and am shopping for a wok.. I can't wait to get it going. Thanks.
    LBGE (2012), MiniMax (2014), and too many Eggcessories to list.  - Sudbury, Ontario
  • Plano_JJ
    Plano_JJ Posts: 448
    Wow, that looks awesome. I have received all my Wokking stuff, the wok (same as yours), the Spider, the Stir Fry book and my spatula. Guess its on now. Have to season the Wok tomorrow. Kind of nervous but excited at the same time. I may try this recipe first. I have been bookmarking your posts as a go-by. Hope my stuff comes out half as good as yours looks. What rice recipe is that?
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Greeno you are in for a load of fun and good eats. Have you tried the Wok Shop for your wok (I just read your post)? I had my wok shipped standard ground and it was a decent price. I just don't know if shipping it to Canada will jack up the price for standard type shipping.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited December 2012
    Plano_JJ said:
    ....What rice recipe is that?
    That is just brown rice. The fried rice recipes in the two Grace Young books start off with cold fried rice. You make some rice, let it cool and then refrigerate it for 3 hours or so. You use it in the stir-fry cold which is said to keep it from clumping and sticking. I only decided to make this dish an hour before supper time. No time to make the homemade fried rice. So I made the brown rice and didn't refrigerate it.

    Good luck seasoning your wok and you are right, this would be a good recipe to start with.There are really only 3 phases of cooking and everything is pretty much mixed together ahead of time and not out at the wok.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • Plano_JJ
    Plano_JJ Posts: 448
    jfm0830 said:
    Plano_JJ said:
    ....What rice recipe is that?
    That is just brown rice. The fried rice recipes in the two Grace Young books start off with cold fried rice. You make some rice, let it cool and then refrigerate it for 3 hours or so. You use it in the stir-fry cold which is said to keep it from clumping and sticking. I only decided to make this dish an hour before supper time. No time to make the homemade fried rice. So I made the brown rice and didn't refrigerate it.

    Good luck seasoning your wok and you are right, this would be a good recipe to start with.There are really only 3 phases of cooking and everything is pretty much mixed together ahead of time and not out at the wok.
    Thanks Jim, so how do you compare the Breath of a Wok book to Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge book? Do you recommend having both?
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Looks good Jim.  Something about the simple stir fry dishes seems to appeal to me more over a zillion ingredients.  Inspirational.  Looks like you did it right, I do the meat separate from the veggies and combine at the end.  Hot, short cooks. Overcooking is the biggest problem with home wokkers.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited December 2012
    Plano_JJ said:
    Thanks Jim, so how do you compare the Breath of a Wok book to Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge book? Do you recommend having both?
    The short answer is yes.

    The slightly longer answer is: If I had to choose one over the other, I would probably pick Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge.

    The long answer is: I am glad I have both, because although there was some overlap there are also some areas that each covers that the other doesn't. Breath of a Wok goes into great detail on the background of the wok and it's historical significance to a much greater degree. When I was buying the book I saw some people's comments where they felt this was too much background information for them, but I was glad for it. The balance of other material to recipes is different too. Breath of a Wok Is probably 60/40 recipes to other material. Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge. Is more like 70/30. They both have sections on the Chinese pantry and the various ingredients that you will need, but Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge goes into greater detail on some of the prep techniques needed. It has a great section on how to cut up garlic, ginger, and scallions, one or all of which  are in every recipe you make. The extra prep parts in Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge. made up for some gaps in my knowledge that I didn't see covered in Breath of a Wok. As I said if I had to pick one, it would be: Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge, but I'm very glad to have both. I enjoy knowing the background behind the type of cooking I am doing. It gave me a great respect for the culture and traditions behind using a wok. This may sound crazy, but because of what I learned about wok tradition in Breath of a Wok I actually made a trip to an Asian market 30 minutes away just to buy some Chinese chives. These are what are traditionally used to season a wok. Sure I could have used scallions or several other aromatic veggies, but after reading the book I just wanted to go with tradition.


    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • Gezr
    Gezr Posts: 154
    "I'm embarrassed to say two of us polished off this serving for 4."
    Don't be, recipes always overestimate how many servings it will make...or at least the way I eat they do.
    :)
    If you don't think too good, don't think too much.

    Afton, VA
  • Plano_JJ
    Plano_JJ Posts: 448
    jfm0830 said:
    Plano_JJ said:
    Thanks Jim, so how do you compare the Breath of a Wok book to Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge book? Do you recommend having both?
    The short answer is yes.

    The slightly longer answer is: If I had to choose one over the other, I would probably pick Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge.

    The long answer is: I am glad I have both, because although there was some overlap there are also some areas that each covers that the other doesn't. Breath of a Wok goes into great detail on the background of the wok and it's historical significance to a much greater degree. When I was buying the book I saw some people's comments where they felt this was too much background information for them, but I was glad for it. The balance of other material to recipes is different too. Breath of a Wok Is probably 60/40 recipes to other material. Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge. Is more like 70/30. They both have sections on the Chinese pantry and the various ingredients that you will need, but Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge goes into greater detail on some of the prep techniques needed. It has a great section on how to cut up garlic, ginger, and scallions, one or all of which  are in every recipe you make. The extra prep parts in Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge. made up for some gaps in my knowledge that I didn't see covered in Breath of a Wok. As I said if I had to pick one, it would be: Stir-Frying to the Skies Edge, but I'm very glad to have both. I enjoy knowing the background behind the type of cooking I am doing. It gave me a great respect for the culture and traditions behind using a wok. This may sound crazy, but because of what I learned about wok tradition in Breath of a Wok I actually made a trip to an Asian market 30 minutes away just to buy some Chinese chives. These are what are traditionally used to season a wok. Sure I could have used scallions or several other aromatic veggies, but after reading the book I just wanted to go with tradition.


    Thanks for the great answer, looks like I got the right book for now. Can you give me a recommendation on a good chef's knife? I am in the market for one so I can cut all this stuff up. The knives I have at home are junk.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited December 2012
    I certainly wouldn't call myself a nice expert. About four years ago I picked up a set of Wusthof classic series knives. My favorite knife is a 5 inch Santoku knife followed by the 7 inch Santoku knife. Knives are a very personal thing, everybody's hands and cutting method are a little different.You need  to try out a bunch of knives to see which ones fit your hand the best. Personally, I have always found Chef knives to be a little awkward. They always seem to be a little bigger than they need to be, a little heavier and I just didn't like the shape of the blade. But once again this is me. When I tried my first Santoku  knife I knew I'd found the right everyday  knife for me. Your mileage may vary and that is why I say try out many knives before making a decision on which fits your hand the best. 

    Then you need to get a good quality knife that has a sharp blade that you can keep sharp. The Wusthof  classic series may not be the absolute best knives in the world, but they are a solid knife and can probably last 20 or 30 years with a little care. As far as the care goes I also picked up the Wusthof hand sharpeners. One came with my set, and I bought a second one that is designed for the Santoku knives which have a different blade angle than a western knife. These Wusthof sharpeners have both a course and a fine V-shaped sharpening blade that you draw the knife through to sharpen them. When I got my set home and opened it up, the blades didn't seem as sharp as I remembered on some samples I tried at the store. I used the new sharpener and soon had a nice sharp blade on all my knives.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • Unsolicited reply.

    As Jim said, knives are a very personal thing.  I prefer carbon steel over stainless because of the ease of sharpening.  You do need to oil them though.

    Also, I much prefer a Chef Knife as opposed to a Santoku.  I have both kinds, but use the Chef more often.  The Chef Knife should have a slightly curved belly, allowing you to rock the blade back and forth.  This makes chopping and mincing so much easier.  I used to buy onion choppers, garlic mincers, etc. but not since I started using a Chef Knife.

    As for brand, you can spend a ton on a knife, as I'm sure you know.  I have Shuns, Wusthofs, Henckles, and some cheaper ones.  I have the higher end ones only because I appreciate the artistic qualities of them.  To me, more important than the knife is the sharpening method or technique.  You can sharpen a cheap knife as good as an expensive one.  I use sharpening stones, but there are machines out there that do a pretty good job.  There was a thread on this forum not long ago on sharpening.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Plano_JJ
    Plano_JJ Posts: 448

    Dad Gum its like picking out a new pistola. Thanks for the detailed replies, gotta go put my hands on some now.

  • Dyal_SC
    Dyal_SC Posts: 6,023
    Looks wonderful, Jethro!! :)