Chung-King Chicken- FAIL!

Quick weekend report: Saturday we went for a little picnic plus hike to Wallace Falls. Didn't really hike that much, thanks to the daughter and the husband. The daughter wore her silly converse shoes that of course aren't that great for hiking. And the husband--- well, he drank so much water that within barely 15 minutes of hiking, he had to rush back to answer nature's call! So there, so much for our hiking expedition!

Sunday evening I decided to whip up some veg fried rice- hey, when I don't know what to cook, the first thing that usually comes to my mind is fried rice. Then I thought, hmm, how about something to accompany that fried rice? Aha! Chung King chicken--- my style! Chung King chicken is one of our favorite dishes to order at Sichuanese restaurant. Very flavorful and HOT as in spicy hot!

Now I didn't have chicken, nor those special Sichuanese pepper corns. However, I had this packet of popcorn chicken in the freezer- the kind that you bake or simply heat up in the microwave and eat. Oh yeah, this Mama knew exactly what to do! ;) 

How convenient!

I took:

1. A couple handfuls of the frozen popcorn chicken, arranged evenly on a microwave-safe plate.

2. 1 medium onion, sliced up thin.

3. 9-12 dry red chillies (later I realized that I could have used more because those red chillies were very mild).

4. 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds.

5. 5-6 teaspoons of oil (the restaurant dish is way more oily).

6. 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.

7. Salt and Pepper to taste.

What I did:

1. The first and foremost step: I m-waved the popcorn chicken per the package instructions for 3.5 minutes. And let it sit.

2. Meanwhile I took some oil in my pan, got the heat going and then added the sesame seeds and red chillies to the hot oil. Gave it a quick fry for about 2-3 minutes--- the red chillies don't take very long to darken and you don't want to burn them. Plus the sesame seeds tend to "fly" around...... so gotta be careful.

Sesame seeds+red chillies

3. Next I threw in the sliced onion and sauteed it until it turned golden brown--- that took about 3  minutes (yes!). 

4.  And then I threw in the popcorn chicken into this, followed by a tablespoon of soy sauce. Also added some salt and freshly ground black pepper and stirred everything up. Voila! My "Chung King chicken" was ready! Looked pretty good, as you can see in the picture:

The shortest-cut to Chung King Chicken!

The Result:

So with much enthusiasm, I served my awesome "Chung King" (popcorn) chicken along with veg fried rice.

Comment #1: "This is like eating chicken nuggets from McDonalds!"
Translation:  Pretty bland, no flavor.

Comment #2: "Hmm, something's missing."
Translation: Pretty bland, no flavor.

Comment #3: "It is good. I love popcorn chicken!"
Translation: Chung King Chicken, you say? FAIL!

The Chef's Comment: Hmm, this didn't turn out that great after all......
Translation: Gosh! This short-cut was sheer disaster!

To Sum Up: Guess short-cuts don't necessarily work always!