This one is for Pru.....

KUNG PAO CHICKEN

During my first year of law school my DC Studio totaled a generous 400 square feet -- the Kitchen took up about 36 square feet!  Crazy huh?!   It was a tiny 6 feet by 6 feet, -- pretty much a sing next to a mini stove/oven. 

Yet, I managed to make use of my limited space and resources to make meals. The pleasure I got in cooking for friends and myself and the effect it had on reducing my stress levels was well worth the effort and creativity. 

One of my classmates, Pru, lived a few flights upstairs from me and toward the end of our first year we spent plenty of time studying together -- especially during finals. During one of these nights she tried my kung pao chicken and immediately thereafter begged for my recipe. This post is me making good on my promise.

So here ya go Pru!  I hope these directions serve you well :)

Ingredients

1/4 cup unpackedBrown Sugar
3/4 cup Chicken Broth,
4 tbsp Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
2 1/2 tbsp Ginger Root
2 tbsp Garlic
1 cup Green onion
1/2 cup Sliced Water Chestnuts
4 oz chicken breast boneless skinless,
1/8 cup Peanuts unsalted
Pam, cooking spray

Directions

Combine the brown sugar with the chicken broth, the soy sauce, the rice vinegar, the chopped ginger and chopped garlic and end up with something like this in a separate bowl:

Then, before I begin cooking, I like prepping my vegetables which included measure out the peanuts and water chestnuts and cutting the scallions:

All together now:

Ok, so now that the prepping is complete ( I'm assuming you've washed and diced the chicken as well) we can move on to the next step.

Spray your cooking pan with some pam ( add a few dried red chilis if you are adventurous)
Once the pan is warm add in the chicken and let it brown on both sides on high heat ( hibachi style).
Next, pour the liquid into the pan  and  cover. Let the chicken simmer for at least 10-15 minutes.
Once the liquid has thickened into a sauce add the water chestnuts, peanuts and half the scallions.
Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Finally, fold in the remaining scallions and serve