Add Some Fire To Your Chicken With Chiles, Ginger

What’s hot and only getting hotter? The fiery-food category, according to The Food Channel, a Chicago-based trend letter. Fueled by consumer interest in low-fat yet flavorful foods, curiosity about different ethnic cuisines and greater availability of condiments, spices and produce, spicy food sales may hit $1.8 billion in the year 2000 - about double that of a decade earlier.

Let’s face it: Boneless chicken breasts do not taste like beef tenderloin, and nonstick cooking sprays don’t have the flavor of butter, so if you’re going to stay on a low-fat lifestyle, you’re no doubt looking for ways to put flavor back into your menus. You’ll find that chilies, ginger and other spices are a sure-fire, fat-free way to heat up your dinner hour.

One savory example is Sichuan-Style Hot Diced Chicken. Yes, it does use the ubiquitous boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but it is seasoned with nutty-tasting sesame oil, soy sauce, jalapeno chili and ginger root. The ingredients used are as near as your grocer’s shelf, the inspiration is Chinese, and the results are delicious and healthful.

Sichuan-Style Hot Diced Chicken

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons dry sherry

2 small boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced jalapeno chili

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root , 1 red or green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1- by 1/4-inch strips

1/4 cup diced green onion, white and green parts

Hot cooked rice

Combine 2 tablespoons soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and sherry in bowl. Add chicken and set aside at room temperature 30 minutes.

Combine remaining 2 teaspoons soy sauce and cornstarch in cup and stir to dissolve. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in wok or deep skillet. Remove chicken from marinade, reserving it. Add chicken to wok and stir-fry until firm and white, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove chicken. If necessary, add another 1 tablespoon oil to wok and heat.

Add jalapeno, ginger root, bell pepper and green onion to wok and stir-fry 3 to 5 minutes or until peppers are tender.

Stir leftover marinade into cornstarch mixture and mix well. Pour marinade mixture into wok. Add chicken and simmer 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Yield: 2 servings.