Colorful Hot And Sour Chicken - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 large egg
2 tablespoons cornstarch
300 g boneless skinless chicken thighs or 300 g boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup peanut oil (or other vegetable oil)
4 slices ginger
3 birds eye chiles, halved crosswise (amount depends the heat desired)
1 small yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
60 g carrots, julienned (1/4 cup)
1 small green pepper, julienned
60 g shiitake mushrooms, julienned (4 medium or 1 cup sliced)
1/4 cup chicken stock (approx) or 1/4 cup water (approx)
the sauce
1/3 cup white wine (I used Chardonnay)
4 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 lime, juice of
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Garnish
fresh cilantro leaves
green onion, sliced diagonally

Preparation

Stir cornstarch into slightly beaten egg until well combined
Add chicken pieces, stir to coat
Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat until just below smoking
Shallow-fry the coated chicken in several batches until golden brown, turning if necessary, then remove to drain on absorbent papers
Leave about 2 tsp hot oil in the wok, stir fry ginger and chilli for 30sec, until fragrant
Add onion slices, continue to saute another 1-2mins, until onions are soft
Add garlic and stir fry for another minute
Add the carrot matchsticks, continue to cook until they're semi-tender
Stir in chicken pieces and saute for 1 minute
Add in the sauce mixture, adding chicken stock/water when necessary, depending how much sauce you like
Finally, add the green pepper and shitake mushrooms and cook for another minute
If you feel that the sauce is too thick, add more stock or water; if too thin, thicken with cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 TB cold water)
Garnish with fresh cilantro and/or sliced green onions before serving with jasmine rice