Hot, gin-soaked, hoisin-glazed chicken and scallions…This appetizing appetizer recipe was a signature at The Islander restaurant in Los Angeles in the ’50s. To make it, you deep-fry little packets of gin-spiked marinated chicken with onions. Yum! We like the result served in lettuce cups.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb white chicken meat
- 2 Tbsp each hoisin sauce, gin, and ketchup
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 bunches scallions, cut into 1-inch lenghts.
Instructions
- Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes, 1/4 inch thick.
- Put the pieces in a bowl and cover with a mixture of the hoisin sauce, gin, ketchup, oil and salt. Let the chicken marinate for 2 to 3 hours.
- Wrap two pieces of chicken and 2 pieces of scallion in small squares of parchment or aluminum foil. (I just snipped the scallions into the packets as I went.) Fold packets over to make a tight seal. Fry the packets in deep hot fat for 3 minutes each. Open carefully and serve packet contents in lettuce cups, or, over a nest of noodles.
