Kung Pao Chicken

My son really likes this stuff and he really doesn't like that much in the way of Chinese food.  I've never made it before, so I thought it was time I did.  I found this recipe and thought it looked good so that is what I went with.  I had most of the ingredients at home so didn't have to shop for much.  I decided to serve it with Tri-color quinoa instead of rice.

To start, I cut up the chicken and let it marinate.

I made the stir-fry sauce next and set aside.  I doubled the sauce, because we like sauce.  I used brown sugar instead of white too.  I whisked it well.

I cut up all the veggies (I did my dice smaller because I'm built in the brain to do it that way and couldn't make them larger).

I used Arbol chilies as I had them in the cupboard.

I did slit them open in the middle so I could release some of the heat.  Even with that, I still added a little "Sambal Oelek" to make it more spicy (about 2 tablespoons) and I added it to the sauce.

I laid out all the mise en place so everything was ready to go in one shot and in order.  My picture below was almost in order...lol.

It all seemed like a lot to remember as I was prepping everything...and the recipe didn't flow well with me.

I got my biggest non-stick pan out which is good for stir-fry.  I heated up avocado oil and put in the chicken.  I stir-fried like the recipe called for (until the exterior is opaque but chicken is still slightly raw in the centre).

I removed it and then added in the veggies, followed by the peanuts.  I didn't clean and wipe out the pan like the recipe said to do after the chicken came out.

I then added in all the aromatics (garlic, ginger, scallions & chilies) and stir-fried for about a minute.  Back went in the chicken and then finally the sauce.

I simmered for about 5 minutes and plated with a half cup of quinoa per serving.

It was very good.  A bit darker than I intended but I guess I may have used to much dark soy in the sauce.  I should have cut bigger dice of the veggies too, but in taste it all was fine.  I'll make again and practice up on the technique.  😄  My son was very happy with the results but I feel it could use a little fine tuning.  And finally, maybe I did make a little too much sauce, it didn't need that much.