Chinese Kung Pao Chicken with Peanuts & Chilli

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil.

Coarsely chop the chicken and set aside.

In a bowl, mix together 1/3 of the soy sauce, 2/3 of the peanut oil and 1/3 of the rice vinegar. Add the chicken to the marinade - stirring to coat the chicken thoroughly in the mixture. Allow to rest in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Cut the dried red chilli in half and remove the seeds if you would prefer the dish to be less hot.

Finely chop the ginger and garlic. Coarsely chop the white parts of the spring onions into 1 cm pieces. Thinly slice the green parts and set aside.

In a wok or frying pan, heat the remaining peanut oil over high heat.

Add the peanuts to the pan and fry until browned. Remove the peanuts and set aside on a paper towel to dry.

Add the rice to the boiling water. (11mins)

In a bowl, combine the remaining soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar and hoisin sauce.

Return the wok/frying pan to the heat.

In a small bowl, combine the cornflour with double the amount of water to make a cornflour slurry.

Stir-fry the dry chillies, ginger, garlic, snow peas and white parts of the spring onions until the chillies turn dark. Approximately 30-40 seconds.

Add the marinaded chicken and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the chicken is golden. Add hoisin sauce mixture to the wok or pan.

Add the peanuts back to the pan.

Thicken the sauce using small amounts of the cornstarch slurry at a time and continue to cook until glossy.

When the rice is cooked, drain and divide among serving bowls..

Serve the Kung Pao Chicken atop the rice and garnish with the remaining spring onions.