Dry-Fried Spicy Chicken (Peking University Canteen Style)

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs
• Potatoes
• Green bell pepper
• Garlic
• Salt
• Ground pepper
• Light soy sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Cooking wine
• Starch
• Pixian red-oil chili bean paste (note: not the brownish-yellow bean paste)
• White sugar
• Crushed Sichuan peppercorns

Steps

1. Debone the chicken thighs (skip if using boneless thigh steaks), pound the meat with the back of a knife and cut into 2cm pieces.
2. Add salt, chicken bouillon (optional), ground pepper, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and cooking wine to the chicken, mix until sticky, then add starch and mix well; add some cooking oil to prevent sticking and marinate 30 minutes.
3. Peel the potatoes, cut into 2cm pieces, boil 5 minutes, drain and dry well to prevent splattering when frying.
4. Seed the green pepper, cut into 2cm pieces and set aside in a strainer.
5. Add plenty of oil to the wok (enough to cover the food, depending on the wok's shape); when it reaches 180℃, fry the potatoes for 3 minutes and remove.
6. When the oil is back up to 180℃, fry the chicken for 2 minutes and remove.
7. When the oil is back up to 180℃, fry the chicken again for 1 minute and remove.
8. When the oil is back up to 180℃, fry the potatoes again for 1 minute, then pour the oil and potatoes through the strainer so the hot oil just cooks the green pepper pieces.
9. Add 5ml cooking oil to the wok and fry the garlic cloves over low heat until golden, add the chili bean paste and fry until fragrant, add the sugar and stir until melted, add the crushed Sichuan peppercorns and 40ml water, and stir constantly until the sauce thickens.
10. Add the fried chicken, potatoes and green pepper, toss well and serve.