Recipe: Jiao Yan Pai Gu

From time to time I like to experiment with Chinese cooking, especially if the boyfriend is involved and can search/translate recipes. I usually want to try to cook dishes that he knows and ate when he was still living in China :) The latest recipe we had the time to try is called Jiao Yan Pai Gu, its a salt and pepper deep friend dish, and it can be prepared using chicken or pork.

We actually did this recipe twice, the first time with pork and the second time with chicken and honestly, both work really nicely. On top of that the recipe is really is easy to make and it won't cost you a fortune, so here goes:

List of Ingredients:

• 1 - 2 Chicken filet or pork rib

• 2 - 3 Bell peppers (green and red)

• 1 onion

• Some garlic cloves (to your liking)

• 2 -3 Green onion

• Salt and pepper

• Some flour or cornstarch

• Some xiaoxing wine

• Some oil

As said above, the recipe is a quick and inexpensive one. The first step is cut the onion and garlic cloves, the peppers and the chicken/pork in bite size pieces. Once this is done, mix the meat with a table spoon of xiaoxin wine, the meat will absorb the liquid.

The next step is to deep fry the meat! Coat every piece of chicken/pork with flour or cornstarch, the easy way is to have a small bowl ready with the dry ingredient and to throw the meat in. While you are doing this, heat a good quantity of oil in a pan. Once the oil is very hot, dip the meat in without burning yourself, it will spit. Cooking the meat takes a few minute, check the colour of the coating.

In the meantime, heat some oil in a wok or in another pan, and saute the onion and garlic. Once the pan is fragrant, add the peppers. When you are done with the meat and you have that nice golden crunchy coat, throw it in the pan and mix well. Add salt and pepper to you taste and finally add green onion.

Jiao Yan Pai Gu is a really nice and easy dish to prepare so don't hesitate to give it a try. One tip if you do the pork variation: take a rib with some fat instead of lean meat. And keep an eye on the nerves that will make your meat less enjoyable.

Enjoy!