Szechuan Chicken Stir Fry

Back in the city, and having some folks over for a working tech-fest / dinner.

As a couple of the folks are on restricted diets, and I am trying to watch my calorie intake, we’ll do a techie favorite, Chinese Food, but in a way to boast the flavors and drop the sodium and sugar intake, while boasting intake of veggies, grains, and nuts with a bit of meat as a flavoring. I’ll reach for the poultry this time as I just did fish yesterday evening.

I’ll start with my Miso soup, followed by Asian Cole Slaw then a main course of Chicken Stir Fry Szechuan, and rice. And for desert, perhaps grilled pineapple.

Background
Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two techniques for cooking food in a wok while stirring it: chǎo (pronounced chow) and bào . The two techniques differ in their speed of execution, the amount of heat used, and the amount of tossing done to cook the food in the wok Cantonese restaurant patrons judge a chef’s ability to perform stir frying by the “wok hei” produced in the food.

To impart wok hei, the food must be cooked in a wok over a high flame while being stirred and tossed quickly. In practical terms, the flavor imparted by chemical compounds results from caramelization, Millard reactions, and the partial combustion of oil that come from charring and searing of the food at very high heat in excess of 200 °C (392 °F). Along with the flavor there is also the texture of the cooked items and smell involved that describes wok qi.
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