Thai Peanut Chicken Recipe

I've been craving Thai food, lately. I found this recipe for "Thai Peanut Chicken" on the food blog "Blog Chef". Being highly visual, the photo jumped out at me and screamed "make me"! (This photo was taken from "Blog Chef's" blog. Pretty, isn't it?

I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I got busy chopping and prepping. As a kid, I grew up with German food. My mother never made Asian recipes (except for some sort of chop suey recipe, as I recall not liking). What I've learned about Asian recipes, is that most of the time in the kitchen is prep work. The actual cooking of the food happens really fast! With this recipe, I'd say that total cooking time was 7-8 minutes. It was delicious! The next time that I make this, I'll add more red pepper flakes (I used that instead of cayenne pepper). I used 1/4 tsp, but I could have definitely handle twice that. I also think that I'd season the chicken with some salt...just a little. I'm a huge fan of water chestnuts. I know that's not authentic "Thai", but I just love them and I think it'll add a nice crunch to this recipe. Last, I love cilantro, so I'd definitely add that as a garnish.

The peanut sauce is easy and very good. Yep, this recipe is definitely worthy of an encore.

Thai Peanut Chicken Recipe

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
3 Tbs fresh garlic (minced)
1 1/2 Tbs fresh ginger (minced)
oil (for cooking)
3/4 cup green onions (chopped)
1 red bell pepper (sliced)
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
Sauce-
3 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs creamy peanut butter
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper** (or more to your taste)
1/4 cup water
Garnish (optional):
Cilantro

1 Step 1: to make the peanut sauce – In a bowl mix soy sauce, peanut butter. Add white wine vinegar, sesame oil, brown sugar and cayenne pepper. Mix well and set aside.

2 Step 2: in large skillet heat oil. Add garlic, ginger and chicken. Cook until chicken is no longer pink inside (about 5 minutes). Remove from pan and set aside.

3 Step 3: Add a tiny bit more oil to the pan and stir fry red bell peppers and green onions for about 2 minutes or until they have reached desired tenderness. Remove from pan and set aside.
4 Step 4: Over medium heat add the peanut sauce mixture to the pan. Heat while stirring constantly. When sauce mixture starts to bubble add ¼ cup of water and mix well to thin it out a bit.

5 Step 5: In a large serving dish add chicken, green onions, red bell pepper, and roasted peanuts. Add sauce and mix well. Serve with white rice.

Servings: 4
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ready in: 40 minutes

(Click here for printable recipe)