Starting with the California Gold Rush of the mid 19th Century, Chinese immigrants have flooded the shores of America bringing a delicious cuisine with them along the way. While the recipes and offerings have evolved throughout the years creating a Chinese-American cuisine of its own, Chinese Take Out has become a mainstay in all of our lives. Whether it's the mall food court, an actual restaurant, or even drive-thru fast food, everyone has a favorite "Chinese" dish they have come to love within the Chinese-American food world. Today's recipe, Black Pepper Chicken, is one of my personal favorites that can be made in a single pot and feed the family in hardly any time at all! Pair it with noodles or a side of rice, Black Pepper Chicken brings a little bit of heat with a ton of flavor that can be enjoyed any time of the year. Instead of heading out to Panda Express or some other ghetto fast food Chinese joint, stick around as I demonstrate how you can create this delicious dish in your very own kitchen....Let's Get Cooking!
Prep work for this Black Pepper Chicken recipe is fairly straightforward. Begin by breaking down your chicken into bite-sized pieces. As always, the chicken thigh versus breast controversy will likely come up with this one so in order to solve any questions......just use the damn chicken thighs people! They are cheaper, more flavorful, and just better all around unless you like dry ass Saharan Desert meat. Just let it be known that if you choose to use chicken breasts and your dinner ends up sucking that I warned you, eh? Moving on, once your chicken is prepped go ahead and knock out the onion and celery as well. The onion doesn't need anything special but a typical dicing, and the celery ribs can be split in half or thirds before thinly slicing across the rib. The bell pepper should be similarly diced in size as the onion. Minimal prep and one pot make this Chinese-American take out dish rank high in my book of delicious dinners!
Now that all the prep work is complete, we can begin to assemble and cook this dish. Heat a fairly large skillet or pan over Medium-High heat with some olive oil. Toss in your chicken pieces and sauté for 6-8 minutes until browned and cooked. Smaller pieces will cook faster so just pay attention and try not to overcook anything. As always, be sure to season with some salt and pepper as soon as you get the chicken in your pan. After your chicken is fully cooked, strain out any excess grease and transfer the chicken over to bowl. It can be set aside for now as we move on to cooking the veggies.
Using the same pan, add a bit more fresh olive oil and toss in the celery. Season the celery with a sprinkle of salt and sauté it for a couple minutes to start softening it up. After 2-3 minutes, add the bell pepper and continue sautéing for an additional 2-3 minutes. Finish up your veggies by adding the onions for 1-2 minutes followed by a metric dump truck load of minced garlic. You simply can never have enough garlic, am I right? Once everything has slightly softened and become fragrant, remove the pan from the heat and set aside for a few moments while we make the black pepper sauce.
Combine the soy sauce, cornstarch, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, black pepper, and ginger to a mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Since this sauce will get slightly reduced, I suggest using low sodium soy sauce to keep things from getting too salty. Also, if you really want this to be a true Black Pepper Chicken, be sure to add a little extra pepper or even use some Sichuan peppercorns if you happen to have some on hand. They will bring a nice citrus note and a little tingle to your tongue! For this particular batch, I just doubled down on the black pepper and it turned out fine so don't feel pressured to go out and buy Sichuan peppercorns, although I will highly suggest them, especially if you enjoy other spicy Chinese dishes that typically contain them as well.
Once your sauce is made, move your pan back over to the heat and add back the cooked chicken. Pour your black pepper sauce over everything and stir to get it all evenly coated. Keep the pan over Medium-High heat to allow the sauce to thicken via the cornstarch and really grab on and coat the chicken and veggies. It should only take a couple minutes at this point for the sauce to tighten up and everything to come together.
And just that quickly you have created a delicious Black Pepper Chicken your entire family is sure to enjoy! It can be served with rice or eaten as is to save a few carbs and calories. Be sure to finish off your dish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and some green onion for a pop of color.
What do you think? Did we pull this one off and make a better than take out dinner in less than 30 minutes or what? Challenge yourself to a race with the rice cooker and see if you can make this Black Pepper Chicken from start to finish before the rice is ready. You can further kick things up a notch by adding some chilies or other veggies to fill out this dish. Broccoli, carrots, snap peas, etc all can be added for more fiber and color. The black pepper sauce itself also works well with pork so feel free to completely change up the meal and go hog wild Asian style! No matter how you choose to recreate this dish, get in the kitchen and keep things tasty....Just Keep Cooking!
BLACK PEPPER CHICKEN
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