Peruvian Mango Chicken Stir-Fry
This is a Peruvian recipe featured on page 208 of my novel Love & the Goddess. Chicken dishes are popular in Peru and this is quite an exotic concoction. The characters (Kate, James, Maria and the shaman Raul) are eating at a restaurant in the little town of Aguas Calientes after their exhilarating visit to Machu Picchu.
In the story James offers Kate a mouthful and asks her to guess what key ingredients are contained in the dish. There’s no guessing here but there’s quite a lot of foodstuff to gather together in advance. I hope you enjoy tasting the sweet tangy flavour of Aquas Calientas in this mouth watering dish.
| Category |
Meat & Poultry |
| Preparation Time |
25 minutes |
| Cooking Time |
20 minutes |
| Serves |
2-3 |
Ingredients:
- 3 boneless chicken breasts sliced into strips or chunks
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 3 ripe mangoes (2 more for sauce below)
- 1 thumb-size piece ginger, grated
- 2 onions
- 1 red bell pepper, cubed and pre roasted if possible
- 1-2 Tbsp. sherry or mirin
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- optional: 1/4 cup slivered almonds and one lime to garnish
- MANGO SAUCE:
- Flesh of 2 ripe mangoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp. crushed or finely chopped chilli (or dried chilli powder)
- 1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chilantro
- 1 tbsp. lime juice
- 1 tbsp. rice vinegar or cider vinegar
- 150ml vegetable stock
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp. white sugar or canderel to taste (depending on sweetness of mangoes)
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- A pinch ground cloves
- Black pepper and salt to taste
Preparation:
- Place all ‘Mango Sauce’ ingredients in a food processor or blender and blitz to create a smooth mango sauce. It should taste sweet, sour, and spicy. If too sour, add a bit more sugar. If too sweet or too salty, add a squeeze more lime juice. Note that the flavour will taste much milder later when distributed among the other ingredients. Set aside.
- Place prepared chicken in a bowl and toss with soy sauce. Set aside to marinate. For the mango, scoop out the flesh of 1/2 to 1 mango, slicing it into bite-size cubes. Set aside.
- Finely slice the onions
- Warm a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl around, then add the ginger and onion. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the soy-marinated chicken. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes, or until chicken turns opaque on all sides. When wok/pan becomes dry, add the sherry/mirin to keep ingredients frying nicely.
- Add the red pepper, plus a little of the mango sauce (2 tbsp. at a time, whenever pan becomes dry). Keep stir-frying in this way until chicken is opaque inside when sliced in half (about 3 minutes).
- Add remaining sauce and stir well. Bring dish to a gentle simmer for 1 minute, before adding the fresh mango cubes. Switch off heat (avoid boiling the sauce – instead simmer gently to preserve the flavour of mango.
- Taste the dish for flavour and add salt and pepper or more lime if required.
Serving: –
Serve with jasmine rice and garnish with slivered almonds, limes and chopped cilantro or parsley.
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
SERVES 2-3
