Thursday, October 21, 2010

Ham Fried Rice and Tiny Spicy Chicken


 
Tiny Spicy Chicken–from Matt Payne
Printable Google Document
As far as I can tell this exact dish is a Cache Valley original. It is a spicy breaded chicken in a red sauce kind of like General Tso’s chicken. My family loves it.


3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast- cut into 1-11 /2 ` cubes garlic salt
2 beaten eggs
cornstarch

oil is hot when popcorn pops
SAUCE
1 -2 tsp Samball Fresh Chili paste
1 1/2 cups sugar 3/4 cup ketchup
3 tsp soy sauce dash slat
3/4 cup chicken broth
6 T brown sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar

Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt, and let sit for 1 hour in the refrigerator. After the hour, dip chicken into beaten eggs and then coat with cornstarch. Brown chicken in fryer until golden brown. Put the chicken into greased 9 x 13 pan.

Mix sauce ingredients in saucepan. Cook only until sugars are dissolved. Pour over chicken

Bake chicken @ 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.

**When frying it is important that the oil is hot. To tell if it is hot add a couple of kernals of popcorn. When the popcorn pops it is ready to fry.

• When you pour the sauce over the chicken, it will be very liquidy. The sauce thickens as it cooks, making a nice coating over the chicken.

There is a Chinese restraint in Ogden called Mardarin Garden and it has wonderful Chinese food. My family always ate there when I was growing up and now I am a Chinese food snob. One of the thing I miss now that I don’t live close enough to eat there very often is the ham fried rice. Yum. Well I have finally found a recipe for ham fried rice that is just as good. 

Ham Fried Rice from “Fabulous Freezer Meals” by Jenny Ahlstrom Stanger, as you might guess from the title of this book this recipe freeze very well.
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 TBSP canola oil
3 ½ cups cooked rice
½ cup crumbled cooked bacon
½ cup cooked diced ham
½ cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp soy sauce

Heat wok or small heavy skillet over high heat. Add 1 ½ tablespoons oil and swirl to coat. When the pan in very hot, add the eggs and scramble them. Remove from pan before they brown. They should be soft and a bit runny.

Heat skillet again and add 2 tablespoons oil. Add rice and toss to coat. Add bacon and peas. Toss the ingredients until heated through. Add soy sauce and scrambled eggs; toss to combine. Season with salt. Garnish with chopped green onions.

When rice has cooled place in sandwich size zip top bags, label and freeze.
To serve; Defrost in microwave in zip top bag (it will act as a steamer) until warmed through about 5 minutes. Serve.