Hoisin Chicken Recipe

I'm excited for March.  Next weekend I'm going to go to a Saint Patrick's Day parade to get into the spirit of the month.  

I'm running a half marathon this month.  I ran the same race two years, and I'm confident I will run faster this time.  

March is an important month because it is my birth month.  I always make my cake, and I spend weeks thinking and planning what cake I'll make.  Usually I make a chocolate cake, but this year I might switch things up and make a carrot cake.

A few months ago I bought a jar of hoisin sauce.  Hoisin sauce has a sweet and salty taste.  It is often made with soy beans, red chiles, garlic, vinegar, and Chinese five spice.

It is called plum sauce in the United Kingdom, but it contains no plums.  In China, it is an ingredient in mu shu pork and Peiking duck.  It is used as a garnish for pho, the Vietnamese noodle dish.

This recipe came from a blog called Rasa Malaysia.  I made the recipe as directed.

The marinade ingredients are 1/2 teaspoon rice wine and 1/2 teaspoon corn starch.  The sauce ingredients are 1 heaping tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, pepper, 1/2 heaping teaspoon corn starch, and 4 tablespoons water.  The other ingredients are 2 tablespoons oil, 2 minced garlic cloves, 3 ounces broccoli florets, 4 ounces sliced chicken breasts, 4 ounces sliced mushrooms, 1/4 sliced carrot, and salt.  

I mixed all the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl.  The ingredients are rice wine and corn starch.  I added the sliced chicken and let the chicken marinade for ten minutes.

I added all the sauce ingredients to another bowl.  The sauce ingredients are corn starch, sesame oil, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, pepper, and water.  I mixed the sauce ingredients well.

I added the oil to a hot wok.  I added the garlic and stir-fried the garlic until it was fragrant.

I added the broccoli to the wok and stir-fried it for a few seconds.  I added the chicken and continued to stir-fry the ingredients.

I added the sliced carrots and mushrooms.

I added the sauce and stirred until the chicken was fully cooked, the vegetables were tender, and the sauce was thickened.  I added salt to taste.

I sprinkled on sesame seeds because I had some on hand.  I served the stir-fry over rice.  It was a appetizing and flavorful dish.

 The chicken was tender and succulent.  The sauce was thick, briny, and sweet

 The vegetables were colorful and tender.

 The flavors were mouthwatering and tempting.

 It was simple and quick to make, but the results were impressive.