Southwestern Kung Pao Recipes

Steps:

• In a small dry skillet, toast the dry chiles until they have deepened in color and have begun to release a toasty aroma, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
• Heat a large saute pan over high heat for about 1 minute. When you see the first wisps of white smoke, swirl in the vegetable oil, cashews, garlic, and toasted chiles. Stir and scrape the pan until the garlic is light brown, about 30 seconds.
• Toss the shrimp into the pan, stirring constantly, until the shrimp just starts to turn pink and everything starts to smell amazing, about 1 more minute. Add the bell pepper and onions, and cook, stirring, until the onion starts to turn translucent, about 1 minute.
• Add the oyster sauce and sambal. Stir the cornstarch into the chicken stock to make a slurry, then add it to the pan. Stir well, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan to deglaze and incorporate them into the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. When the shrimp have just turned pink and opaque, meaning the shrimp are cooked through, turn off the heat. Sprinkle in the scallions, add the sesame oil and a pinch of white pepper. Stir everything in the pan to coat all the ingredients.
• Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Steps:

• Whisk all ingredients for the sauce together except the cornstarch.
• Whisk in cornstarch until dissolved.
• Set aside.
• Prepare vegetables.
• Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat.
• Add ginger, garlic, and pepper flakes.
• Stir fry 20-30 seconds.
• Add mushrooms and asparagus and stir fry 1 minute.
• Add water, cover, and steam 2 minutes.
• Uncover and stir in sauce mixture.
• Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute or until thickened.
• Add tomatoes and scallions.
• Garnish each serving with cashews.
• Serve immediately with sesame noodles.

Steps:

• Dice chicken breast into small bite-sized chunks.
• Divide into two Ziploc bags or bowls for marinating.
• Dice the pork into similar size pieces, divide, and add to containers with chicken.
• To one container of chicken and pork add: 1 teaspoon hot chili sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce.
• Coat the chicken and pork pieces and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.
• In the other container of chicken and pork, add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon cumin, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of cilantro, and diced jalapeno, if desired.
• Coat the chicken and pork pieces and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.
• In a small or medium pan, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water.
• Stir in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, peanuts, 1 teaspoon of chili paste, 1 teaspoon balsamic of vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
• Heat slowly.
• Heat 1 T sesame oil in a wok or large sauté pan on high heat.
• Add chicken and pork from both containers and cook until meat is cooked.
• Add diced red bell pepper, cook until tender.
• Add diced banana, black beans, corn, and 1 tablespoon of cilantro.
• Add cornstarch mixture.
• Stir in thoroughly.
• Serve mixture on tortillas.

Steps:

• Sauté garlic, ginger and chili sauce in oil till aroma releases.
• Add soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Boil one minute.
• Add cornstarch mix. Stir till thickened.
• Cool, bottle and store in fridge.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and mix well. Set aside.
• In another smaller bowl, stir together the ketchup, rice wine, soy sauce, vinegar and chili sauce. Set aside.
• In a small pan over medium heat, toast the Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and crush 1/2 tablespoon of the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle, or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Set aside. Leave the remaining peppercorns whole.
• Heat a wok over high heat and, when wok starts to smoke, add the peanut oil. Add the remaining whole Sichuan peppercorns, dried chiles and fresh chiles and stir-fry for a few seconds.
• Add the beef and stir-fry until the beef is brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the reserved sauce and peanuts and cook until the sauce has reduced slightly and is sticky and has a thicker consistency.
• Add the cilantro and scallions and toss to coat and warm through. Then transfer to a serving plate and garnish with the ground Sichuan peppercorns. Serve immediately.