¾ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1” x 1” pieces
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas (about 4 oz)
½ lb asparagus, chopped into 1” – 2” pieces
4 garlic cloves, pressed (about 1 Tbsp)
Lets stop right here and talk about fresh ginger. When the recipe calls for fresh ginger the best way to prepare it is to use a microplane. Many people enjoy the flavour of ginger but do not like to bite into pieces of it and the ginger paste in a jar is awful, and grating your own is easy and cheap. I use a Pampered Chef microplane for this task. It works like a charm and is very fast and the taste reward is worth it. If you want one, and I recommend you get one, call Susan because she sells Pampered Chef products and Lord knows we can use the money.
Simply grate the ginger over a small bowl then when finished, scrape the microplane with a wooden spoon to gather up all the ginger. The smell is incredible!
1 Tbsp fresh ground ginger (see above)
1 Tbsp canola or grapeseed oil
Marinade for chicken
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp tapioca or corn starch
1 tsp sugar
Black Pepper Sauce
¼ cup oyster sauce
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp chilli paste
½ tsp sugar
1½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp tapioca or corn starch
1½ cups chicken stock (no salt added is best for this recipe)
Place the chicken in a bowl and add the marinade ingredients. Mix well
to incorporate and to ensure the chicken is coated evenly. Place in the fridge
for 1 hour.
Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and whisk to mix well, set aside.
Heat oil in a wok over high heat, add the chicken and stir fry 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes add ginger and garlic, stir fry for 1 minute.
Add carrots and stir fry for 1 minute.
Add peas, peppers and asparagus, stir to toss for a few seconds.
Add black pepper sauce, and then stir the mixture to prevent scorching
and cook until the sauce is at a full boil. About 1-2 minutes. If the sauce has
gotten too thick add a bit more chicken stock to thin it to your desired
consistency.
Note: My clan likes a lot of sauce. We use it as gravy on the rice, like you would use gravy on mashed potatoes. If you desire you can cut the sauce amount in half to simply coat the chicken, but then what would you float your rice with?
Serve immediately with rice.
