Sweet Chili Chicken

After experiencing below average temperatures in the month of July, summer has finally arrived in Toronto. Whatever seasonal pleasures you enjoy, nobody wants to spend more time than necessary in a hot kitchen. Stir-frying is the ideal preparation for a weeknight supper any time of the year. It’s also a wonderful way to showcase all the beautiful spring and summer produce that’s so readily available right now. With a little bit of advanced preparation, this recipe for sweet chili chicken by the über talented, Bonnie Stern, published in HeartSmart: The Best of HeartSmart Cooking, is a quick and easy family dinner.

Sweet Chili Chicken

To stir fry successfully there are a few easy rules:
Prepare your ingredients in advance
Cut up your vegetables and protein before starting and measure out your liquids in advance, because once you begin to stir fry, things move along very quickly at high heat
The aromatics should be cooked low and slow
Finely chopped aromatics such as ginger, garlic, should be cooked first, at a lower heat. If added to a wok or pan on high heat, they will burn quickly and spoil the flavor of the stir-fry. Make sure to remove them from the pan before increasing the heat. (They can be added back at the end.)
Add ingredients according to cook time
Make a plan and decide on what order to add the ingredients into the pan based on their individual cook time. Cook the meat or chicken first and take it out of the pan, to be added again at the end. This will allow you to cook the vegetables without drying out the meat or chicken.

Assemble your ingredients.

Pat the chicken dry and cut into pieces about 2 inches by 1 inch. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Using the vegetables that you have available to stir fry, cut into uniformly shaped slices so that they cook evenly. Mince or grate the garlic and ginger. Chop the scallions finely. The garlic, ginger and scallions are called aromatics. Set them aside separately from the other vegetables. Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large deep skillet on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces to the pan. Do not stir. That’s counterintuitive isn’t it? When the chicken pieces start to turn light golden brown, flip them over and allow the other side to start to color. When the chicken is light golden on both sides, transfer to a plate or pan beside the stove.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan. Lower the heat to medium-low. Add the green onions, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 1 minute until they begin to release their aroma. Remove the aromatics from the pan and transfer to a bowl. Increase the heat to medium high. Add the vegetables to the pan. Stir fry until just tender.

Add the chicken and aromatics back to the frying pan and add the sauce. Cook stirring for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice.

Print Recipe

Sweet Chili Chicken

Meat, Chicken and Fish

By Bonnie Stern, Essential Home Cooking – Serves: 6

Prep Time: 15 minutes – Cooking Time: 10 minutes – Total Time: 25 minutes

Stir-fried chicken and seasonal vegetables in a sweet and spicy chili sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 pound (500 g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons (15 ml) vegetable oil, separated
• Sauce
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) hoisin sauce
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) sweet Thai chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons(25 ml) soy sauce
• Aromatics
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh ginger root, grated or minced finely
• 2 green onions, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or minced finely
• Vegetables
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced into thin pieces

Instructions

1

Pat the chicken dry and cut into pieces 1 inch X 2 inches each. Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper.

2

To prepare the sauce, combine the hoisin sauce, sweet Thai chili sauce and soy sauce. Set aside.

3

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large deep skillet on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces to the pan. Do not stir. When the chicken pieces start to turn light golden brown, flip them over and allow the other side to start to color. When the chicken is light golden on both sides, transfer to a plate or pan beside the stove.

4

Heat another tablespoon of oil in the skillet. Lower the temperature to medium-low. Add the aromatics, garlic, ginger and green onion to the pan. Cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove the aromatics and set aside.

5

Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the prepared vegetables to the pan. Stir fry until tender.

6

Add the chicken and aromatics back to the frying pan with the vegetables and add the prepared sauce. Cook stirring for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Notes

Use whatever vegetables you have on hand in your stir fry.