Monday, May 23, 2016

Spicy Pineapple Chicken

I've been on a fresh pineapple kick lately. I never used to buy them - I think because I was intimidated about cutting them (it's not that hard!), and I thought they were expensive (not really...$3-4, and you get a lot of fruit). Mostly I've just been eating it as a snack, but I thought I'd make a chicken stir-fry with the remaining bits of last week's fruit. You could certainly used canned pineapple too. I don't really go for the super-sweet gloppy sauce, but this one has a nice balance of savory/hot/sweet. You could add cornstarch to the sauce if you want it thicker, but I didn't bother.

- Cut chicken breasts or boneless thighs into bite-size pieces and marinate in a little soy sauce (and any spice you like...I used some Penzey's Bangkok Blend) while you prepare the rest:
- Cut a sweet onion, red bell pepper and a small zucchini into medium-size pieces. Grate a bunch of fresh ginger and mince a couple garlic cloves.
- For the sauce, stir together a generous tablespoon each of hoisin sauce and orange marmalade (or honey/maple syrup/brown sugar), a bit of rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil & Sriracha. If using canned pineapple, you can add the juice. Stir in about 3/4 cup of chicken broth. 
- Stir-fry the chicken in a bit of oil until just cooked, and remove to a bowl.
- Add a little more oil and stir-fry the vegetables for a couple minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, and about a cup of pineapple chunks; cook for a couple more minutes.
- Add the chicken back in and pour in the sauce. Heat through, add more soy sauce and/or Sriracha if you like, and serve over jasmine rice.

I added some chives (green onion would be good) and garnished with black sesame seeds.