Have you tried making Chinese food at home, but never got that taste just right? So then you just succumb to getting a takeaway instead? Those days are now over because I’m gonna let you in on the secret of perfect homemade Chinese food. It’s MSG!

Just kidding. We’re not using that.

It’s all in the sauce. And a really hot and well-seasoned wok. But mainly, it’s the sauce. For wok seasoning, I suggest you just take a peek at Youtube, but it basically comes down to coating the wok in layers of burnt fat. It does sound kinda gross, but it’s the only way to get that deep smoky flavour.

Now onto the sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields 4 servings / 0.69 EUR per serving / 2.75 EUR for all)

For the sauce:

3 tbsp soy sauce (0.20 EUR)

1 tsp toasted sesame oil (0.07 EUR)

¼ tsp of cayenne pepper (0.02 EUR)

3 tbsp corn starch (0.10 EUR)

½ cup warm water (–)

For the stir-fry:

½ of large chicken breast (1.33 EUR)

Good pinch of salt (0.01 EUR)

Good pinch of freshly ground black pepper (0.01 EUR)

3 tbsp oil, divided (0.04 EUR)

4 garlic cloves (0.13 EUR)

3 carrots (0.20 EUR)

1 large bell pepper (0.27 EUR)

1 large onion (0.10 EUR)

1 large zucchini (0.27 EUR)

METHOD:

Prepare the sauce by whisking together soy sauce, sesame oil, cayenne, corn starch and water until no lumps remain. Set aside.

Cut chicken into thin strips and rub well with salt and pepper. Allow the chicken to soak in the salt and pepper by letting it rest for 20-30 minutes. During that time mince garlic and wash and chop all the vegetables. You want to have everything prepared beforehand before you start cooking, because it’s going to go fast.

Place wok on high heat for a few minutes until it starts smoking. Add a tablespoon of oil and half of the chicken to your wok and stir-fry for a few minutes until slightly crispy. Remove chicken when it’s done and repeat with second half of the meat.

Remove all meat from the wok, then add to it remaining tablespoon of oil, chopped carrot and minced garlic. Briefly stir-fry, then gradually add in chopped pepper, onion and zucchini in that order, while stir-frying for a few minutes in between, before adding a new batch of veggies. The idea is to start with firmer veggies which take longer to cook and work your way towards softer ones. Once you’ve finished cooking up all the vegetables, return meat to the wok and stir to warm through. Pour sauce over everything, stir and cook for just a few seconds until the sauce thickens. Be sure not to overcook as the sauce might get burnt and bitter.

Remove from heat and serve immediately over a bed of cooked rice. Either go with the plain old rice, or spice things up with this coconut lime rice.

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Jeste li već pokušavali doma kuhati kinesku klopu, ali vam okus nikad ne bi ispao baš onako kako treba? Pa onda na kraju pokleknete i naručite dostavu? Ti su dani sada iza vas jer ću vam odati tajne savršene kineske hrane iz kućne radinosti. To je MSG!

Šalim se. Nećemo to koristiti.

Stvar je u umaku. I jako vrućem i dobro začinjenom woku. Ali uglavnom je stvar u umaku. Što se tiče začinjavanja woka, predlažem da malo virnete na Youtube. Ali u principu, sve se svodi na to da vam wok bude obložen slojevima zagorene masnoće. To možda zvuči malo ogavno, ali je i jedini način da dobijete onaj duboki dimljeni šmek.

Sad idemo na umak.

SASTOJCI:

(Za 4 porcije / 5,12 kn po porciji / 20,49 kn za sve)

Za umak:

3 žlice soja sosa (1,50 kn)

1 žličica tostiranog sezamovog ulja (0,50 kn)

¼ žličice kajenskog papra (0,13 kn)

3 žlice kukuruznog škroba (0,75 kn)

½ šalice tople vode (–)

Za stir-fry:

½ velikih pilećih prsa (10,00 kn)

Dobar prstohvat soli (0,01 kn)

Dobar prstohvat svježe mljevenog crnog papra (0,05 kn)

3 žlice ulja, podijeljene (0,30 kn)

4 češnja češnjaka (1,00 kn)

3 mrkve (1,50 kn)

1 velika paprika babura (2,00 kn)

1 veliki luk (0,75 kn)

1 velika tikvica (2,00 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Pripremite umak tako da dobro razmutite soja sos, sezamovo ulje, kajenski papar, škrob i vodu, i to tako da ne bude grudica. Stavite na stranu.

Narežite piletinu na tanke trakice i u nju utrljajte sol i papar. Pustite da odstoji jedno 20-30 minuta da se sol i papar upiju u meso. Za to vrijeme sitno nasjeckajte češnjak te operite i narežite svo povrće. Neka vam sve bude spremno prije nego što krenete kuhati, jer će to ići jako brzo.

Stavite wok na par minuta na jaku vatru dok se ne počne dimiti. Dodajte žlicu ulja i pola mesa, pa pržite miješajući par minuta dok se piletina ne zahrska. Izvadite meso kada je gotovo i ponovite sa ostatkom piletine.

Svo meso maknite iz woka, dodajte u wok preostalu žlicu ulja, narezanu mrkvu i sjeckani češnjak. Kratko pržite uz miješanje, pa onda postepeno u wok dodajte narezanu papriku, luk i tikvicu po tom redoslijedu, a sve tako da miješate i par minuta pržite između svakog novog povrća. Ideja je da počnete sa najtvrđim povrćem kojem treba najduže da se skuha i idete prema onom najmekšem. Kada je svo povrće na taj način gotovo, vratite u wok meso i promiješajte da se ono ugrije. Prelijte preko svega umak, dobro promiješajte i kuhajte svega par sekundi, samo da se umak zgusne. Pazite da ne kuhate predugo jer bi vam umak mogao zagoriti i postati gorak.

Maknite s vatre i odma poslužite preko kuhane riže. Možete upotrijebiti i najobičniju rižu, ili učinite stvar zanimljivijom sa ovom rižom sa kokosom i limetom.