Recipe: Spicy “Broken Rice” Chicken Wraps (Hunan) Print E-mail
果仁碎米鸡  - guo ren sui mi ji

Bold in both color and flavor, this dish embraces the all out spiciness of tiny fresh fiery chilies so emblematic in Hunan cooking.  In a traditional preparation the amount of chilies equals the amount of chicken, visually signaling its deadly heat. The "broken rice" sized morsels of each bite combine the fiery peppers with rich savory aromatics, the crunch of peanuts, and a welcome cooling finish from the leafy wrap.

hnchickenfinal.jpg

Ingredients

300 gram       Chicken breast
150 gram       Qing suan (garlic tops)
70 gram         Preserved vegetable (ya cai)
20                 Small fresh red chilies, like a Thai bird chili (for a slightly milder dish use medium red chilies like a    Serrano)
10 gram         Garlic
10 gram         Ginger
10 gram         Scallions
1/4 cup          Peanuts (skin off)
Salt
White pepper
Sugar
Soy
Wine
Sesame oil
 Red chili oil (optional)
Lettuce leaves (Boston/butter lettuce is the best for this, but other small leafed lettuce  like baby  romaine or endive or radicchio would be alright-basically, you want something thin and light enough to make little cups/wraps for the chicken. )

Preparation

Butterfly the chicken horizontally into very thin layers; to do this, put your palm flat on the chicken breast and press down firmly as you hold your knife parallel to the cutting board and then gently cut through the entire breast.  Cut each layer lengthwise into very thin strips and then chop cross-wise into tiny "kernels" like grains of rice.  As a shortcut, you could also pass the chicken through a meat grinder using a large plate, but the dish has a cleaner look if you cut the chicken by hand.  Marinate the chicken in a little soy, pepper and wine.

Soak ya cai in water. Chop fresh chilies into very small sections. Deseed or substitute with larger, milder chilies or dried red chilies if you want it less spicy. Mince garlic, ginger, and scallions.  Toast peanuts in a dry pan, then chop roughly.

hnchickenveg.jpg hnchickenfrying.jpg

hnchickenlettuce.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heat oil in wok. Stir fry chicken kernels until cooked through; remove and set aside.  Add some more oil and fry garlic, ginger, scallions, preserved vegetables (drain first) and chilies.  When fragrant, add wine, return chicken to the wok and season with salt and sugar.  Add qing suan and toss together. Finish with sesame or red chili oil.

Serve on lettuce cups.  If the leaves are small leave them whole; or, trim each leaf into small rounds.