EASY AND HEALTHY RECIPES, TIPS FOR HEALTHY LIVING, FOOD REVIEWS, ETC

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Garlic Chicken Stir-fry in Tamarind Sauce




Too tired of soy sauce based stir-fried chicken? Here's a dish that is hot, sweet, salty and tangy. The key ingredients are fish sauce and tamarind concentrate. Tamarind has a deep flavor both sour and sweet but leaning more on the sour side. It's robust and distinctive flavor melds well with the saltiness of fish sauce and the sweetness of brown sugar. I used tamarind sauce left over from my Thai Son-in-law Eggs recipe. This Chicken Stir-fry recipe is a keeper!


Garlic Chicken Stir-Fry in Tamarind Sauce


2 chicken breasts, cut up
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/2 c tempura flour
1/2 c water
1/4 c celery
1/4 c yellow squash
1/4 c red bell pepper
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 garlic, minced
1 bird's eye chili, minced
1/4c-1/2 c tamarind sauce

Season chicken pieces with garlic salt. In a bowl, combine tempura flour and water. Stir till there are no lumps. Add chicken into the bowl. Deep-fry chicken in oil. Drain fried chicken on paper towel and set aside.

Heat canola oil in a wok. Add minced garlic and gently fry till golden brown. Over high heat, stir-fry yellow squash, celery and red peppers. Add chicken pieces, minced chili and half the tamarind sauce. Gently stir for 1 minute for the sauce to lightly coat chicken pieces. Chicken should still be crispy. Serve with steamed rice and extra tamarind sauce on the side. Delicious!

I am submitting this to Weekend Wokking: Tamarind, hosted this month by Palachinka

8 comments:

Chef E said...

This I like, and wish I had for breakfast...is that wrong? LOL I would eat most anything for all meals...not a cereal girl here...

Anonymous said...

I've never cooked with tamarind before. There's a new HMart in my neighborhood, so Asian cooking is easier than ever. You wouldn't believe the ingredients you can find there. I'm definitely going to add tamarind to my grocery list!

MaryMoh said...

That's a delicious dish. I love adding tamarind to meat dishes. Thanks for sharing.

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I am soooo ready for healthy eating now that the holidays are almost over. We had a tamarind tree in our front yard in the Bahamas. It was a huge tree with big pods on it.

I hope 2010 brings you much happiness and good health.
Sam

Anonymous said...

I love this, the tamarind addition is amazing! Happy New Year!

Joanne said...

I love the flavor of tamarind. So tangy and delicious. What a great and different stir fry recipe!

sijeleng said...

The tang from tamarind is a nice change for stir-fried chicken. Beautiful looking dish!

Karine said...

I love tamarind and your recipe sounds delicious! thanks for sharing :)