Authentic Chinese Cooking 103 - Not-so-authentic Bourbon Chicken

Actually, that's a lie. It might be authentic. Or maybe not. Who knows? I've found sooo many different ideas on where this dish comes from, how it's made, where it began, why it's named Bourbon chicken even though not all recipes contain bourbon.. Who the heck knows?!?!? Not me, that's for sure. But the one thing we ALL agree is is that it's FREAKIN' DELICIOUS!!!!!!

*Clears her throat sheepishly* Right. Well... Sometimes I get a little excited, okay?!? 

http://cookeatshare.com/recipes/my-chinese-left-overs-can-beat-up-your-chinese-left-overs-bourbon-chicken-273588

That's the original source for the recipe I used. On which I took creative license...

Dana's Bourbon Chicken

• 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces Done!
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil *Puffs chest out proudly, fists on hips* I used PEANUT OIL! BOO-yah!
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed Check.
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger Yup.
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes Sno' nuff!
• 1/4 cup apple juice This is where I started to get creative... I didn't have apple juice, I had orange juice. So I used it.
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar Done and done.
• 2 tablespoons ketchup Uh huh..
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar ALAS! More creative work ensued with this little bugger! I didn't have that either. I used regular vinegar. My friends- ... ... bad, bad choice.
• 1/2 cup water Yah.
• 1/3 cup soy sauce <-- IN MY DEFENSE she didn't specify WHICH type of soy sauce to use. I used dark soy sauce, to give the dish a "more robust flavor". Don't. I'll explain why below:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. :)
2. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Mine didn't really get brown. Whatever.
3. Remove chicken.
4. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium Heat until well mixed and dissolved. *Big sigh* Okay. Where to begin? I started throwing in the stuff in some random order, no idea how. The orange juice smelled awesome, so I thought I was on a roll. Then, I got to the soy sauce. WHY, DEAR GOD? Why didn't you STOP me?!? I put in the correct amount of dark soy sauce. I tasted the mixture after adding the rest of the ingredients. NEWS FLASH, LIZ! DARK SOY SAUCE DOESN'T ENHANCE THE ROBUSTNESS OF YOUR DISH IT ENHANCES THE ROBUSTNESS OF THE SOY SAUCE!!! ... ... It tasted like dark soy sauce. Stupid. So next BIG mistake, I tried to cut it with the vinegar. And I didn't stop there! I kept adding vinegar until I couldn't taste the soy sauce anymore! Yay! ... ... But guess what I COULD taste? .. Yeah, you guess it. So I added some light soy sauce, some of this, some of that, etc. I basically looked like this, standing over the wok: 

However, no, I didn't suddenly sprout two extra arms, it happened to actually be a very nice and sunny day, and unless my brother was standing behind me waving his arms in an erratic fashion and yelling things like "BOOM!" and "CRASH!" then no. Those things didn't exist either. Just in my mind.

.. And I don't know why I drew myself adding pepper, because that dish didn't have any ground pepper in it. Come to think of it.. I wasn't holding a knife either.. *Ponders hard, then forgets the whole thing*

Anyway, long explanation short, I ended up adding more juice and things to make the dish sweeter, less acidic and less "soy"-ic. (?) It turned out REALLY well, and was quite delicious, but took a lot of experimenting to get right. Come on over sometime for some Bourbon chicken and  maybe I'll even entertain you with my crazy red, spinning eyes, my four arms, and lightening of anger/frustration!!!