Soyed vermicelli with spicy almond chicken

An easy dish that comes together without much fuss. For the chicken I followed the basic recipe for Sichuan kung pao chicken, but made a few substitutions based on what I had on hand. For peanuts, I used almonds; for sesame oil, grapeseed oil; and for cornstarch or water chestnut flour (which makes a lighter crust than cornstarch) I subbed tapioca flour.

Ingredients:
•2 boneless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each, cubed
•8 red chillies, halved
•Bunch of green onions, chopped
•About a dozen almonds
•3 cloves garlic, minced
•5 - 7 slices of fresh ginger
•Oil for frying, about 2 tablespoons

Marinade:
•1 tablespoon soy sauce
•1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
•2 teaspoons cold water
•2 teaspoons tapioca flour
•2 teaspoons grapeseed oil (but a more flavoured oil like sesame oil is BEST)

Sauce:
•1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
•2 teaspoons light soy sauce
•1 tablespoon black or red rice vinegar, or red wine vinegar
•1 tablespoon chicken broth or water

Vermicelli
•2 50g packages of bean thread vermicelli
•2 tablespoons soy sauce
•1 tablesooon brown sugar

Preparation
1. Combine the marinade ingredients and add the chicken pieces. Let sit for half an hour.
2. Heat oil and stir fry chicken pieces until almost done. Set aside.
3. Stir fry chillies and almonds. Add ginger and garlic and stir for a few minutes.
4. Add the chicken and sauce to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Turn off heat and add sliced green onions and give it a final stir.

To make the noodle, simply boil about 100g of bean thread vermicelli until al dente. Drain off the water, keeping the noodles in the pot, and add about 2 tbsp of soy sauce and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Stir thoroughly, dump into a bowl, add as much of the chicken as you like. Enjoy.



PS At the last minute, I also decided to throw in some young, tender yellow beans we'd just picked from the garden. Extra green goodness!