All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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The hardest part of this recipe is finding the ingredients & none are very exotic – meaning?  No excuses!  Try this fucker.  It comes together in 20 minutes & is so fucking delicious – it was all I could do not to just devour it before I photographed it.  It could be made with real chicken – if that is your thing.  I used my favorite vegan chicken from Beyond Meat.  Here is a coupon you can use this month & try some yourself!

20-Minute Spicy Vegan Kung Pao Chicken

Feeds 2 with rice

INGREDIENTS

Cooked rice

9 oz vegan chicken (or real chicken) – cubed

2 TBS peanut or olive oil

5-15 dry red chili peppers (15 peppers makes this VERY VERY spicy – reduce the number to under 5 if you hate heat)  – chopped (get rid of the seeds if you want this less spicy)

4 scallions – white & green parts – chopped & separated by color

6 garlic cloves – minced

2 tsp ginger

1/4 cup peanuts (plus more if you want to use them as garnish)

for the marinade

1 TBS soy sauce (or tamari)

2 tsp rice wine (or dry sherry)

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

for the sauce

3 TBS black vinegar (or a good balsamic)

1 TBS soy sauce (or tamari)

1 TBS hoisin sauce (if you cannot find it – recipes are HERE)

1 TBS sesame oil

1 TBS cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

Make some rice.  I used brown Basmati.

Whisk the marinade together & toss the chicken in it.  Set aside.  I marinated it in the bag.

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.  Prepare everything else – because this will happen fast.

In a wok or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the oil over high heat.  When hot (test by adding a piece of chili.  It should sizzle a lot, immediately), add the dry chilies for 30 seconds & then add the chicken.  Cook for one minute (if using real chicken, cook 2-3 minutes or until cooked through) and then add the sauce.

Stir it around for a minute and then add the garlic, ginger, and the white part of the scallions and half the green parts (my scallions are homegrown & have no white part).  Cook another minute or until the sauce thickens & then stir in the peanuts.

Serve immediately over warm rice & garnish with more peanuts (chopped – if you prefer) and/or the remaining green scallions.