Caramel Coriander Chicken

I just love stir-fry dishes. They are usually very easy, quick, simple and extremely tasty when eaten hot, right out of the wok onto the serving plate! Most of the preparations are just slicing and cutting, with the sauce premixed in advance before cooking time. Rice is the main food at meal times for us, with two or three dishes to go along with the rice. So I'm constantly looking for new ideas and recipes when it comes to stir-fry. We do have our favourite stir-fry dishes, but even cooking the same food  can be boring! 

I found this recipe in one of the cooking book, "Stir-Fry". This is really simple and easy to prepare. The recipe requires the chicken to be marinated overnight, but I just marinated it in the afternoon and cooked it in the evening. The chicken is first fried, and then stir-fried for a few minutes with the caramel sauce. Since it was only the four of us, I cooked half of the recipe, which was just the right portion. I'm giving the original recipe which serves 4-8, but I think that it is a big portion for 4!

It is sweet, salty with a hint of sourness from the rice vinegar. A lovely dish to go with white rice. This dish is a definite hit at our dinner table. There's no leftovers!

I would definitely cook this again, perhaps a spicier version. I think adding a tablespoon of coarse chilli flakes would be lovely! And more coriander leaves!

I'm sharing this with :
Cookbook Sunday at Mom's Sunday Cafe

And I'm bringing this to a Cookbook Party, hosted by Louise of Months of Edible Celebrations. Louise is celebrating her Blogoversary by throwing a Cookbook Party, and October being the National Cookbook Month! There's a whole list of food celebrations just for the month of October! For full details, hop over to Months of Edible Celebrations. I'm submitting this Caramel Coriander Chicken under the list "Eat Better, Eat Together"!

Caramel Coriander Chicken
(adapted from : Stir Fry)
serves 4-8
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
60ml (2fl oz/1/4 cup) Chinese rice wine or sherry
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 kg (2lb 4oz) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into cubes
60gm (2-1/4 oz / 1/2 cup) plain all-purpose flour
125ml (4 fl oz/ 1/2 cup) oil
90gm (3-1/4oz / 1/2 cup) soft brown sugar
2 very large handfuls coriander (cilantro), chopped, plus extra leaves, to garnish
60ml (2fl oz / 1/4 cup) rice vinegar

1. Place the turmeric, 2 crushed garlic cloves, the ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, egg yolks, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon white pepper in a large bowl and mix together well. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2. Pour away any excess liquid from the chicken, add the flour and toss to mix well.
3. Heat a wok until very hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl to coat. Add  a third of the chicken and stir-fry for 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the wok. Cook the other two batches of chicken, adding more oil as necessary. Remove all the chicken from the wok and keep warm.
4. Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining oil, brown sugar and remaining garlic. Mix together and then leave for 1-2 minutes, or until the sugar caramelizes and liquefies.
5. Return the chicken to the wok, and add the coriander and vinegar. Stir gently for 4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and well coated with the sauce. Garnish with extra coriander leaves.