1. Skin and bone chicken; then dice. Combine cornstarch, soy sauce, oil and ground pepper; add to chicken and toss to coat. Let stand 10 minutes, turning occasionally.

2. Dice green peppers. Cut scallion stalks in 1/2-inch sections. Mince garlic.

3. Blend remaining cornstarch and soy sauce to a paste with water and sugar.

4. Heat oil. Add salt, then peppers, and stir-fry to soften (about 1 minute).

5. Add scallions and stir-fry until translucent (1 to 2 minutes). Remove vegetables from pan.

6. Heat remaining oil. Add garlic and stir-fry a few times. Add chicken; stir-fry until it loses its pinkness (about 2 minutes).

7. Return vegetables to pan, stir-frying briefly to reheat. Stir in stock and heat quickly. Then cook, covered, 2 minutes over medium heat.

8. Stir in cornstarch paste to thicken. Serve at once.

1. For one of the green peppers, substitute either 3 celery stalks or 1/2 cup water chestnuts, diced.

2. For the mixture in step 1, substitute 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 1 tablespoon sherry; and 2 or 3 slices fresh ginger root, minced.

3. In step 1, toss the chicken in a mixture of 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon sherry and 1 egg white. Omit step 3. Then at the end of step 6, sprinkle chicken with a mixture of 1 tablespoon sherry, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Then stir-fry to blend in. Pick up step 7, but omit step 8.

From <The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook>, Isbn 0-517-65870-4. Downloaded from Glen's Mm Recipe Archive, http://www. Erols. Com/hosey.