Deep fried chicken with walnuts

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Servings: 2-3

¾ lb. chicken breast
1 cup walnuts (or cashew nuts)

Marinade
6 cups oil
1 egg white
½ Tablespoon rice wine
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Flavored pepper salt:
1 Tablespoon Szechuan peppercorn
3 Tablespoon salt

Directions:

1. Remove the skin and membrane from chicken breast, slice into 1 ½" wide, 2" long, 1/8" thick pieces, and place in a bowl to marinate with the marinade for 15-20 minutes.
2. Boil the walnuts in boiling water for about 10 seconds. Remove them and let cool, then chop the walnuts into small pieces the size of rice.
3. Dredge the chicken pieces on all sides with chopped walnuts by sprinkling the walnuts over them, then deep fry over low heat for about 1 minute or until they are golden brown.
4. Remove chicken from the wok and place on a serving plate. Serve the dish with flavored pepper salt.

To make Flavored pepper salt:

1. Stir and mix the Szechuan peppercorn and salt over low heat in a dry frying pan for about 1 minute.
2. When the salt is brown and the peppercorn is dark and aromatic, let it cool, then grind into fine powder. This can be kept in a tightly covered bottle and used for any fried or roasted dishes.

An easier alternative is to buy ground Szechuan peppercorn at your friendly local Asian market, folow the above steps, but skip the grinding part.