Salt and Pepper Chicken

We love Chinese food and when we moved up here to the ole GP we found that it just wasn't as good as Calgary. We tried all the different restaurants that were recommended to us and we both agreed that I needed to take things into my own hands. This is one of our favorite dishes at Edgemont Palace (RIP) and homemade is almost as good as at the restaurant. I did find one FABULOUS shortcut.....at the Safeway deli they see a dish called Honey Garlic Chicken. It is battered and fried and comes in frozen. I buy a frozen bag there (a 1 kg bag costs about $17-18 which is a steal as it saves me about an hour of prep) and keep it in the freezer so anytime a chinese food craving hits, I can have it on the table in about 20 minutes (that is also cheating and using Minute Rice). Using the premade chicken I put it on a cookie sheet and bake it at 400 until crispy (about 20 minutes). While it's in the oven slice the peppers and onions and saute. Combine the chili peppers, salt and sugar in a small bowl. When the chicken is done add the peppers and onions to the cookie sheet and sprinkle with the chili pepper mixture. My kids gobble this up (I give them the pieces with not as much chili flakes or I just take some chicken out before I add the hot stuff and give them the sauce that came with the chicken). Serve with some rice, steamed broccoli and garlic beans and you are good to go.

I will include the whole recipe for the purists out there, but trust me buying it at the deli is twice as good if you ask me!!

Salt and Pepper Chicken

1.5 lb boneless chicken breasts, sliced into long strips

1 egg

3 t. vinegar

5 t. oil

2 c. cornstarch

1 c. flour

2 c. water

5-8 c. oil (for deep-frying)

1 t. minced garlic

1/2 green pepper, julienned

1/2 red pepper, julienned

1/2 med onion, slivered

2 t. crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. sugar

Place chicken in large bowl. Add egg, vinegar, oil, cornstarch, flour and water and mix with your hand to combine well. Let sit for 20 minutes to tenderize.

In large wok or deep fryer, heat oil until 350 degree. Place chicken in the hot oil and dcook a handful at a time, until golden and crispy. This will take about 5 minutes. Remove chicken, drain and keep warm.

In another wok, heat 1 T. of oil and saute garlic, gr pepper, red pepper and onion for aobut 5 minutes. Stir in chili pepper and return chicken to pan. Toss with salt, sugar to combine and heat through. Serve immediately.