宮保雞丁 Kung Pao Chicken

從前在香港的時候，我們五兄弟妹都很愛吃媽媽煮的東西；但更高興去酒樓吃飯。不知是否那年代沒現在這麼多選擇，還是我父母 - 特別是我爸爸 - 太保守了不會嚐試新口味。記憶中我們每次吃的，都是同樣的菜式。我們可沒有介意或投訴；說起來我們對爸爸點的食物都喜愛得很。

Growing up in Hong Kong with my siblings; as children, we loved having dinner at Chinese restaurants. I don't know whether it was because there weren't as many choice as we have nowadays, or that our parents - especially my dad - were just too conservative to try out new dishes. For as long as I could remember we would always have the same things, not that we mined or complained. We did actually genuinely enjoyed the food that our dad ordered.

自己在家做的咕嚕肉 Homemade Sweet and Sour Pork

是以當我們吃粵菜時，一定會有鹽焗雞、咕嚕肉和三鮮豆腐煲。在上海館子時，桌上必有上海雲吞、上海粗炒和小籠包。到四川飯店時，就會要酸辣湯、麻婆豆腐和宮保雞丁等。

So when we were in Cantonese restaurants, we would always have salted chicken, sweet and sour pork, braised bean curd with seafood in a clay pot; in Shanghai restaurants it would be Shanghai wantons, fried shredded pork and cabbage with thick noodles, and steamed dumplings; in Sichuan restaurants we would have hot and sour soup, spicy tofu with minced pork, and kung pao Chicken.

自己泡製的烤鹽焗全雞  My homemade Baked whole salted chicken

上述的菜式我都深愛。奇怪的是，雖然長大後接觸到許多新口味和不同的美食，每次去倫敦唐人街 找東西吃時，我仍會嘗試記起那間的鹽焗雞最出色、那間的上海雲吞最美味或那間的宮保雞丁最香辣。

I loved all the above dishes, and astonishingly, even now I've grown up and there are so many more new flavours and cuisines to entice me, most of the time I still find myself trying to remember where did we have the best salted chicken, the best Shanghai wantons or the best kung pao chicken; whenever we go out to eat in China town in London. 

也是自己做的烤鹽焗雞腿 Homemade Baked Salted Chicken Legs

千里遙遙的居於外地，離唐人街又遠。想要吃家鄉菜時，只好親自動手。

Living so many thousand miles away from your home city, and so far away from china towns, the only way to satisfy those homesickness taste buds is to try and makes these meals yourself.

為了吃得較健康，我用帶殼烤了沒加鹽的花生取代油炸過的花生。

For a healthier option, I used unsalted roasted monkey nuts to replace the deep fried peanuts.                                                           

宮保雞丁

( 3 - 4 人用)

材料：

• 雞脾肉 400g 切丁方
• 西芹 4 條
• 青椒 1 隻切角
• 葱 4 條切段，綠白兩部份分開
• 小紅辣椒 1 隻切幼片
• 辣豆瓣醬 1-2 湯匙隨個人口味
• 海鮮醬 2 湯匙
• 番茄醬 2 湯匙 ( 愛吃辣的可不用茄醬而增加辣豆瓣醬份量)
• 花生 50g 去衣
• 蒜頭 2 粒剁蓉
• 生油 1 湯匙
• 水 2 湯匙

雞肉醃料：

• 鹽 1 茶匙
• 糖 1 茶匙
• 生抽 1 茶匙
• 麻油 1 茶匙
• 酒 2 茶匙
• 生粉/ 栗粉 1 茶匙

 Kung Pao Chicken

( serves 3 - 4 )

Ingredients:

• 400g boneless chicken thigh diced
• 2 celery sliced
• 1 green pepper diced
• 4 spring onions, the green and white parts separated. 
• 1 red chili
• 1 - 2 tbsp chili bean sauce
• 2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup ( you can replace the ketchup with more chili bean sauce if prefer the dish hotter)
• 50g roasted unsalted monkey nuts, shells and skins removed
• 2 clove garlic crushed
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp water

Marinade for the chicken:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp wine
• 1 - 1 1/2 tsp corn starch / potato starch mix with water for thickening the sauce 

做法：

1. 首先把雞肉與醃料拌勻醃半小時或以上。
2. 燒紅鍋，下油轉中火，爆香蒜蓉辣椒葱白；下雞肉，轉大火兜炒煎至雞肉微焦。
3. 加入餘下菜料和綠葱段輕炒一會，下所有醬料繼續炒熱，下水勾芡，如太稠可酌量加水調至芡汁適宜。灑下花生兜勻上碟。

Steps：

1. Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes or longer.
2. Heat up a frying pan, add oil and lower to medium heat, fry the white part of spring onions, garlic and chillies for a few minutes then add the chicken,  turn up the heat, fry everything together till the chicken turned light brown.
3. Add the rest of the vegetables with the green part of spring onions and stir-fry for a further 3 minutes before adding the Hoisin sauce, the chili bean sauce and the tomato ketchup; heat through then stir in the corn starch mix, add a little water at a time to adjust the consistence of the sauce. Scatter the roasted peanuts in to toss through and serve.

以前為了不想孩子吃太辛辣的食物，我做宮保雞時都不下乾辣椒和不加進太多的辣豆瓣醬。但這道菜式最能隨意，煮得多淡或多辣，完全可以由你喜歡。

Because I didn't want my children to have too much spicy food; I've always omitted the dried chillies and used fresh chillies without the seeds instead and held back on the hot chili bean sauce too. But this dish is so flexible, you can really make it as hot or as mild as you like.