Title: Chicken with hot chile paste
 Categories: None
      Yield: 1 Servings
 
      8    Chinese dried black
           -mushrooms
      1 lb Boned chicken; dark or light
           -meat
      1 tb Dry sherry
      1    Egg white
      1 ts Sugar
      1 tb Cornstarch
      2 tb Chile paste with garlic..or
           -more; beware!
    1/4 c  Water or stock
      1 tb Light soy sauce
    1/2 c  Peanut oil
      1 c  Shredded bamboo shoots
      2 tb Shredded ginger root
    1/2 c  Shredded carrot
      1 ts Chopped habanero; (one whole
           -chopped hab)
      1 tb Cornstarch mixed with 3 tbls
           -of water
           Sesame oil to taste
 
  Here is another Hot Chinese Recipe from Szechuan Province. This one
  uses a very hot chile paste, available at a Chinese grocery store
  made by Lee Kum Kee, Chile paste with garlic. It is incredibly hot,
  dont have any idea what kind of chiles they are using, but they are
  HOT! This dish also makes use of another Chinese cooking trick, the
  slippery marinade, comprised of sherry(or Chinese cooking wine),egg
  white, cornstarch and sesame oil, which is the reason that chicken
  pieces done at a good chinese restaurant taste the way they do. Have
  fun with this recipe, a wok is almost an essential, and they are so
  inexpensive at a Chinese market. Get a carbon steel one, and then
  season it thusly...first scrub with detergent and steel wool, then
  rinse well, put it in the oven to completely dry, then rub peanut oil
  all around it on the inside, then heat it over high heat, until it
  gets black..wipe it out when it cools, and re-oil..that's it, it will
  get blacker with time and use, and eventually be completely non stick.
  
  Soak the dried mushrooms in very hot water for 30 minutes until soft.
  Remove and discard the stems, and shred the mushrooms. Chop the
  chicken into bite size pieces and set aside. Lightly beat the egg
  white, add the sherry, half the sugar and the cornstarch, mix well
  and add the chicken...place in the fridge, this can be done several
  hours before the cooking process, in fact it is better if you do. In
  a small bowl, combine the chile paste, water, soy sauce and the
  remaining sugar...set this aside.
  
  Cooking: Heat a wok or large skillet over high, until a drop of water
  sizzles, maintain high heat throughout the cooking process. Add the
  peanut oil, and just before it starts to smoke, add the chicken
  pieces after giving them a stir in the marinade..stir fry for about a
  minute, until the chicken begins to brown slightly, and remove the
  chicken. Drain off all but about 2 tbls of oil, re-heat the wok, and
  add the bamboo shoots, mushrooms, carrots, and the habs, stir fry for
  about one minute, then add the chile paste mixture, stir fry this in
  and add the reserved cooked chicken, stir fry another minute, thicken
  with the cornstarch mixture, add about 1 tbls of sesame oil,stir
  around and serve...this will serve two with other Chinese dishes,
  rice or-and a vegetable dish...one of those tomorrow