Chinese Chicken & Soup

[TheBeard]

My last roommate was Chinese. I tried to get him to teach me more of the language and the cuisine, but he sucked. At least I got a nice recipe out of it all.

Ingredients:

Boneless, skinless chicken
Water
Garlic (1 head, or at least 6 cloves)
Ginger (fresh)
Sugar (1-2 tsp, 3-4 packets) (or Splenda, same amount)
Soy sauce or black vinegar
Cooking Wine
Pepper
Cilantro
Green onions

Preparations:

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. If using both white meat and dark meat, the white meat pieces should be about 1.5 times as large as the dark meat pieces to ensure consistent cooking. (When i do this, I usually use one whole chicken skinned and cut up, and the wings left whole). Bring water to boil in a large pan--a wok is preferred, but any large pan should do. When the water is boiling, add the chicken. Nudge the chicken as the water returns to a boil. When every piece is opaque white all around, remove the chicken and dump the water.

Fill the pan with water, slice ginger and add, cleave garlic in half and add, add a splash of the other liquids (cooking wine, black vinegar, soy sauce, whatever else you want to add), add the sugar and set the pan back to boil. While the pan comes to a boil, rinse off the chicken with cold water. The rinsing is not vital, but will make a difference in the dish. This is, apparently, a somewhat common practice in Chinese cuisine.

When the broth in the pan comes to a boil again, add the par-cooked chicken. Keep an eye on the firmness of the chicken. It should take around 5 minutes after the water has returned to a boil to bring the chicken to a succulent state. Add some cilantro, chopped green onions, and pepper when you're ready to turn off the heat and are about a minute away from dishing up.

This recipe makes plenty of soup with the chicken. Ladle up and enjoy