Spicy Szechuan Chicken Rice Bowls

These Spicy Szechuan Chicken Rice Bowls have been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ChooseNexium24HR #CollectiveBias

My love for spicy foods is serious business. When I first tried Szechuan Chicken it was love at first bite. Not only was it spicy, but the taste of chiles and garlic shone through - making it deliciously spicy. I loved it so much that I started making my own Szechuan Sauce at home, to recreate my favorite take-out item whenever I pleased. It was like the stars had aligned and a dream had come true - until I got pregnant. Heartburn set in and didn't go away {not even after giving birth}, making my relationship with Szechuan Chicken {and all spicy things} a thing of the past. My taste-buds were totally heartbroken.

However, I recently found an anatacid relief that works great for me and I've slowly started dabbling back into my spicy-eating ways with great success. So, to celebrate I thought it would be perfect to share my favorite make-at-home spicy dish. Spicy Szechuan Chicken Rice Bowls. This dish is perfectly, intensely, beautifully spicy - not for the faint of heart. It's near perfection to me.

This recipe for Spicy Szechuan Chicken gets it's spiciness from dried Japones chiles, which can be found in the ethnic section of most major supermarkets. It was the first recipe I had ever made with dried chiles and was happily surprised with the flavor and heat that they added to the dish. Plus, I had always assumed that cooking with dried chiles was going to be something labor intensive, which was not the case at all.

Just simmer the chiles until tender...

Put them in a food processor...

And voila! Fiery chile paste is achieved...

After mixing the chile paste with garlic, ginger and a few spices and seasonings - you've made your first batch of Szechuan Sauce! It not only goes great with the chicken for this recipe, but it also goes great with pasta, shrimp, bread and so much more. If you just want to make the sauce for it's spicy goodness, it can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks in an airtight container.

I seriously thought that I'd never enjoy spicy food like I used to, which was putting a total damper on my culinary quests. I'm so happy to be enjoying this take on my favorite take-out dish again! I owe it all to Nexium 24HR. Just one Nexium 24HR a day gives me 24 hours of antacid relief, a simple solution for all day and all night protection. I feel a little silly that such an easy solution {one little purple pill} was out there and it took me so long to find it, but all that matters is that I did - and now I'm making a list of all the spicy dishes I've been missing out on!

Spicy Szechuan Chicken Rice Bowls
PRINTABLE RECIPE
makes 2 servings
Ingredients
for Szechuan Sauce
30 dried Japones chiles
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon chopped ginger {fresh or jarred}
1 garlic head, peeled and finely chopped
¼ teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 teaspoon red chile powder {more if you want it spicier!}
½ teaspoon sea salt
for Rice Bowls
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups cooked chicken {cubed or sliced}
2 cups cooked rice
1 carrots, julienned
leafs from a handful of cilantro
1 cups sweet snap peas
4 radishes, sliced
Directions
1 Bring 2 qt pot of water to boil, add dried chiles and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, remove from heat.
2 Strain peppers, reserve 2 tablespoons of water. Place chiles in food processor. Process until mixture is smooth and paste-like, adding reserved water.
3 In large skillet, over medium heat, heat cooking oil. Add garlic and ginger, saute for 5 minutes - just enough time to cook the garlic and ginger, but not enough time to brown them. Add chile paste and stir until fully incorporated. Bring to simmer and let cook for 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, tomato sauce, red chile powder and sea salt, stirring until fully incorporated. Bring to simmer and cook for 5 additional minutes. Remove from heat. {you’ll have some of this szechuan sauce leftover from this recipe, so store in fridge in airtight container and use within 2-3 weeks. you can put it on meats, pastas, bread and so much more!}
4 In large skillet, over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil and ¼ cup of szechuan sauce. When sauce starts to bubble stir in chicken {i use grilled chicken thighs, sliced}, making sure each piece gets coated in sauce. Cook until chicken is heated through, remove from heat.
5 Assemble rice bowls by dividing up ingredients between two bowls.

I buy Nexium 24HR from Walgreens {at the corner of happy & healthy} in the pharmacy department. It can be found in the alkalizers section, by other antacid products, in a variety of size options. Make sure to check out their website for store locations.