Orange chicken san choy bow
An American twist on a Chinese classic ‘San Choy Bow’ — made by filling lettuce cups with Orange Chicken rather than mince.
The “salsa” that goes on top fulfills the flavors of a San Choy Bow, with garlic, water chestnuts, spring onion, ginger and chilli.
Ingredients:
Crisp iceberg lettuce leaves, as cups
Sichuan honey butter peanuts:
130g peanuts, crushed
50g unsalted butter
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sichuan peppercorns
Chicken marinade:
500g chicken thigh, diced small
1 tbsp oil
pinch of salt
1 egg
100g cornstarch
Frying the chicken:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Orange chicken sauce:
Juice from one mandarin, approx. 1/2 cup (can sub orange juice or tangerine juice)
1 fresh peel from mandarin, sliced thin into matchsticks
3 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
1 tbsp thin soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
San choy bow salsa:
2 tbsp thin soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp oyster sauce
juice of 1 lime
Handful canned water chestnuts, sliced thin
Carrot, sliced thin into matchsticks
1 shallot, diced
1 red cayenne chilli, sliced thin
1 green cayenne chilli, sliced thin
Handful of cilantro/coriander, chopped
3 spring onion stalks, white and green parts sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, minced or grated
2 tsp ginger, grated
1/4 tsp chinese five spice
Fried vermicelli:
Handful vermicelli noodles
Leftover vegetable oil from frying chicken
Method:
To make the Sichuan honey butter peanuts: In a mortar and pestle, grind down Sichuan peppercorns until they are all broken apart and there are no big pieces remaining. Add cubed butter to a fry pan over medium heat. As the butter melts, add honey and Sichuan peppercorns. Stir constantly as it foams and add crushed peanuts. Stir for another 30 seconds to 1 minute, and watch as it thickens and the peanuts turn a golden toasted brown. Turn off the heat and pour peanuts over a baking paper lined plate. Let cool and they will harden and stick together. To serve, just crush apart with your hands. They are now golden honey crusted peanuts! Delicious.
To make the orange chicken sauce: Peel one large piece off a mandarin skin, using a peeler and slice thin into matchsticks. Add to a bowl with the remaining orange chicken sauce ingredients. Whisk all ingredients together.
To make the San Choy Bow salsa: Chop and slice all ingredients and combine together with the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl.
To make the orange chicken: Cut chicken thighs into small pieces. The smaller the better, they make for easy eating in a lettuce cup. Add the chicken to a mixing bowl and add oil and salt. Toss to coat. Add a whisked egg and mix through well. Add cornstarch and mix through well, but a few dry spots are ok.
To a frying pan, add 1/3 cup vegetable oil and bring to a high heat. Keep on high heat as you add all the chicken, breaking it apart so they are separated. It should sizzle and spit! In a few minutes it will be golden brown on one side, so flip and fry on the other side. Both sides should be golden brown and crispy. Remove from heat and put chicken pieces on a paper towel lined plate to cool and crisp further.
To make the fried vermicelli: In the same pan, there should be oil rendered out from the chicken thighs. Use this oil to fry the vermicelli noodles. Heat the oil again to high heat. Once it starts to bubble/or smoke, add in the vermicelli noodles and fry for 1-2 minutes until crispy and golden. Remove and place on a paper towel lined plate to cool and crisp.
To make the orange chicken, continued: In the same pan, there should still be leftover oil. Now, pour in the orange chicken sauce and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add in the crispy chicken and stir to coat. The sauce should be absorbed by the chicken, it should get sticky and glazed within a few minutes. Take off the heat and build the lettuce cups.
To assemble: Find the perfect lettuce cup and add a spoonful of orange chicken inside. Spoon over the san choy bow salsa, crush the peanuts over top and garnish with fried vermicelli noodles.
Enjoy straight away!
