TEN-MINUTE STIR-FRIED CHICKEN WITH NUTS

Ten-Minute Stir-Fried Chicken with Nuts image

Stir-frying-the fastest cooking method there is-can change your life. You can use it for almost anything, and it can be so fast that the first thing you need to do is start a batch of white rice. In the fifteen or twenty minutes it takes for that to cook, you can not only prepare the stir-fry but set the table and have a drink. For many stir-fries made at home, it's necessary to parboil-essentially precook-"hard" vegetables like broccoli or asparagus. So in this fastest possible stir-fry, I use red bell peppers, onions, or both; they need no parboiling and become tender and sweet in three or four minutes. If you cut the meat into small cubes or thin slices, the cooking time is even shorter. I include nuts here for three reasons: I love their flavor, their chunkiness adds great texture (I don't chop them at all), and the preparation time is zero.

Yield makes 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 5

Ingredients

1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
2 cups red bell pepper strips, onion slices, or a combination
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick chunks
1 cup halved walnuts, whole cashews, or other nuts
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce (see Note)

Steps:

Put the oil in a large nonstick skillet (12 inches is best) over high heat; a minute later, add the vegetables in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, until they begin to char a little on the bottom, about 1 minute. Stir and cook for 1 minute more.
Add the chicken and stir once or twice. Again, cook until the bottom begins to blacken a bit, about a minute. Stir and cook for another minute; by this time the vegetables will have softened and the chicken will be done, or nearly so (cut into a piece to check). Lower the heat to medium.
Stir in the nuts and the hoisin sauce. Cook for about 15 seconds, then add 2 tablespoons water. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is bubbly and glazes all the chicken and vegetables. Serve immediately, with white rice.
Substitute any vegetable, or combination, for the peppers and onions. Try cut-up and parboiled (simmered in boiling water just until slightly tender) broccoli, asparagus, green beans, or dark leafy greens; shredded raw cabbage; raw snow peas; or chopped tomatoes.
Use any boneless meat in place of the chicken, or shrimp. or scallops. Cooking time will remain the same.
Sprinkle the meat with about 1 tablespoon curry powder as it cooks.
Along with the hoisin, add ground bean paste (about 1 tablespoon), plum sauce (about 1 tablespoon), or chili-garlic paste (about 1/2 teaspoon, or to taste) during the last minute of cooking.
Replace the hoisin with 3 or 4 small dried hot red chiles (optional), 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1/2 cup chopped scallion, all added along with the nuts
A flat-bottomed skillet-the larger the better and preferably nonstick-is better than a wok for stir-fries made at home. Keep the heat high and don't stir too much to ensure nicely browned, even slightly charred meat and vegetables.
Keep it simple; too many ingredients slow you down and eventually overload the skillet so that browning becomes impossible.