Home Style Chicken

Directions

For Chicken: Hold each chicken portion by the end of a leg and use a kitchen towel to grab the skin at the thigh end. Pull off the skin and discard. With a sharp boning or paring knife, slit the meat on the legs and thighs, cutting parallel to the bone. Scrape the meat away from the bone. Cut through the joint between the leg and the thigh. Scrape away all of the remaining meat and cut or pull out the bones. Place each boned piece of chicken, skinned side down, on a work surface and break up tendons by scoring the meat with a cleaver. Cut the meat into 1½-inch pieces and transfer them to a small bowl.

Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper and rice wine. Stir in the beaten egg, sprinkle with cornstarch and toss to combine. Drizzle with oil, toss, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For Sauce: In a small bowl, stir together a little of the stock and the cornstarch. Add remaining sauce ingredients and set aside.

For Finishing Sauce: Blend together ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

For Spinach: In a wok, or a large skillet, heat the oil until nearly smoking. Add spinach, stock, garlic and salt and stir-fry until just wilted, 1 to 1½ minutes. Arrange in a large ring on a warm serving plate.

To Assemble: In a second wok, or skillet, heat oil to 360 F (a piece of garlic will sizzle steadily when placed in oil). Add chicken pieces, separating them with skimmer, and fry, turning once or twice, until lightly golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Raise heat of oil to 400℉ (200℃) and return the chicken to the wok. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute, then remove and drain. Pour off al but 1 tablespoon of oil. Add garlic, scallions, and ginger an cook for about 30 seconds. Add sauce, then chicken and toss to coat. Add finishing mixture, tossing to combine. Arrange chicken on spinach and serve immediately.