Thai Chicken Stir-Fry

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

When I was a college student back home, I lived in the dorm for the first two years of college. In general, dorm food almost always do not go together with words like culinary delight or a gastronomical extravaganza. Rather, they always mean tasteless, overpriced and nutrition-deprived nosh. The food at the dorm where I was staying at actually fall in between the two categories. Every now and then, the food would be really good we almost always look forward to having it again. Sometimes however due to limited budget, not so much. One favorite of mine though is corned beef spring rolls although I'm in the minority here. I know it sounds weird but I really loved this dish. This usually happens when we have corned beef for breakfast and for dinner, they reappear as spring rolls. My point here is that sometimes, you have to repurpose leftovers and if done right, you get the same reaction as I did with the corned beef spring rolls. That, or I'm just a weird guy. 

The recipe below is actually not an experiment on my part. This is really published in one of my cookbooks and it uses leftover roast turkey or chicken. The flavor is Thai-inspired with additional notes on how to add more spice to make the dish on the fiery side. As it is, it is already a wonderful dish but feel free to adjust the flavors to suit your taste buds. You might just like this dish you'll end up buying a roast chicken just to make this dish. 

Thai Chicken Stir-Fry - Adapted*

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

3/4 lb cooked chicken 
  breast meat
5 green onions, sliced in 
  half inch lengths 
1 red pepper, julienned
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 cup water
pinch of cayenne (optional)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp canola oil
cilantro, diced green onions and/or toasted sesame seeds for garnish

1. Coarsely shred chicken breast meat. Julienne red pepper and slice green 
    onions. Set aside. 

2. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, soy sauce, chopped cilantro, honey, 
    curry powder, sesame oil, cornstarch, red pepper flakes, cayenne and 
    water. Mix well. 

3. In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute the red pepper strips in 
    the canola oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 3 minutes. 
    Add the green onions and saute for another minute. 

4. Add the chicken pieces and mix well. Add the spice mix and cook until the 
    sauce thickens and almost dry and the pan starts to sizzles. 

5. Turn off the heat and top with more cilantro leaves, chopped green 
    onions and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. Serve right away with 
    steamed rice. 
  
* Westmoreland, Susan: editor, Good Housekeeping: Step-by-Step Main Dishes, Hearst Books, New York: 1999